


Run you clever girl

by LSD



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-16
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-02-25 14:55:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 11
Words: 54,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2625887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LSD/pseuds/LSD
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I'm Professor Perseus Jackson, but you can call me," He stopped, eyes meeting Annabeth’s. They stared at each other for just seconds but Annabeth smiled, flipping her hair by instinct. She saw the professor trying to find his words. As he was still a bit speechless, she gave him a small nod pointing the rest of the class to motivate him. He smiled at that and cleared his throat. "you can call me Percy."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. It's all about the details

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! So, this is my first real multi chapter and the first one I'll try some smut, so please be gentle. No pun intented. I hope you like it.

It took a while for Annabeth to remember where she was. Looking around she saw a man on her right. She rubbed her eyes and looked at him again. He had a scar across his left eye, short blond hair and a body that made Annabeth high-five herself mentally. Jake? Adam? What was his name? Luke! His name was Luke. 

She got up very slowly and tried her best not to wake him up. She then head to the living room and wrote him a note saying how the night was great but she had to leave. She signed it with an A, put it on the fridge and got out. 

The air was chilly that morning. It was Sunday and Annabeth’s classes would start on Monday. She quickly went to the nearest subway station to go home. When she sat down on a train, she saw her reflection on the window and understood why some older ladies were giving her judging looks. She laughed at that, flipped her hair and picked up her mobile to keep reading the book she had downloaded two nights before. 

As soon as she entered her house, Piper yelled from the kitchen: “I want all the details.” Annabeth smiled. The two of them had been living together for almost three years now, but they were friends since childhood. 

“There’s nothing to tell really.” Annabeth said, smirking. 

“Sure thing,” Piper began, “You disappear from the party with the hottest guy in the room, send me a text saying you’re not sleeping at home, arrive at almost noon with yesterday’s makeup and Simba’s mane and you expect me to believe that there’s nothing to tell?” She was sitting on the counter, swinging her legs, waiting for Annabeth to start talking. 

“Fine, but I’ll need coffee.” Piper smiled and got off the counter. Soon Annabeth was on her Pyjamas and Piper was bringing coffee to the couch. “So, what do you want to know?” Annabeth asked. Piper rose one eyebrow and smiled to her from the corner of her mouth. “Fine.” She sighed. “So, we were dancing and Jake, I mean Adam, no, no, Luke, yeah Luke,” Piper started laughing, “ha ha, shut up now and let me tell the story.” Piper pressed her lips to avoid laughing and signalized to her to continue. “So, Luke,” she emphasized his name and Piper giggled, “invited me back to his place. We took a taxi and ten minutes later we were there.” Piper gave Annabeth a ‘I don’t believe you’re telling me just this’ look. “What?” Annabeth asked.

“Details.” Piper answered. 

“I don’t know why I’m friends with you.” Annabeth said, rubbing her temples. 

“Headache?” Piper asked, smiling. 

“I hate you.” Annabeth said. 

“No, you love me. Now, details.” 

Annabeth grunted. She looked up to see Piper sitting on her legs and her hands cupping her face. “Have I ever told you how much that puppy face irritates me?” She blurted. 

“Have I ever told you how grumpy you get whenever you run away from cute one night stands?” She made a movement to get out of the couch and Annabeth quickly held her. 

“Sorry.” Piper smirked and got back to her position. 

“Luckily for you I’m a forgiving soul.” She smiled, gesticulating dramatically towards her chest and Annabeth rolled her eyes. 

“So, details?” She asked and Piper nodded.

“Details.” 

***

Jason woke up to laughs on the kitchen. “You couldn’t write it again?” Piper asked.

“I was in a hurry.” Annabeth answered, like it justified whatever she had done. 

“I can’t believe you did that.” Piper started laughing again, as she finished doing the lasagne. 

“Did what?” Jason asked, picking a glass of water. 

“Jason, honey, you know I love you, but could you please put a shirt on? We’re doing lunch.” Annabeth said, pretending to cover her eyes. 

“You know what Annie? I have to say I prefer him like that.” Piper winked to Annabeth and went over to Jason to give him a quick peck on the lips. Annabeth only rolled her eyes and whispered ‘Disgusting’. 

“You two will drive me crazy someday.” Jason said, but went to the bedroom anyway and was soon back with a superman t-shirt on. 

“Classic.” Annabeth said and Jason gave her a light push on the head. He got near Piper and hugged her as she finished cooking. 

“Annie is upset because she can’t remember the name of the hot guy she was with last night.” Piper explained while Jason gave her small kisses on the head. 

“That’s not true.” His name’s Adam.” He looked at Piper and the girl shook her head. “Jake?” Piper shook her head again. “Damnit.” Piper and Jason laughed. 

“She wrote him a note when she left and got his name wrong, twice, before getting it right. So, instead of writing another one, she just scribbled it.” Jason turned to Annabeth and gave her an exaggerated shock face. 

“Luke.” She shouted. “His name’s Luke. And don’t give me this look. I’m sure he doesn’t even remember my name. We just had fun. The end.” Piper and Jason exchanged a look, having one of their inner conversations. She pushed him kindly and asked him to set the table. He kissed her again and went off to do his task. Annabeth observed how Piper’s eyes followed Jason and smiled. “You know you guys are the most adorable couple in the world right?” 

“I know.” Piper answered and smiled. “He’s my wonderboy.” She turned to Annabeth and her smile faded. “Maybe you’re going to find yours soon.” 

Annabeth did nothing but smiled. No, she wouldn’t. 

***

Piper and Jason had overslept so Annabeth was late getting a ride to university. “I hate both of you so much.” She said, rubbing her temples. 

“No, you love us. And we’re sorry, we're a bit tired.” Piper said, looking at Annabeth on the back seat. 

“Of course you are, you were going on all night long.” She shouted. “I heard you.” They both blushed and Annabeth grunted. She hid her head on her hands. “I need to get a car.” After a while of silence she felt the car stopping and looked up. They were on the university parking lot so Annabeth rushed out of the car, waving goodbye and carrying her vacations projects. 

“Maybe we should stay at my,” Jason started but Piper interrupted. 

“Better Annie than Leo Jason.” He thought about it and then shook his head quickly, trying to get the thoughts away. 

“Indeed.” Jason said. They stared at each other for a while and suddenly started laughing. “I freaking love you.” Jason said, after they’ve calmed down, one hand on Piper’s cheek. She leaned on his hand, covering it with her own. 

“I freaking love you too.” Their faces got closer and they were about to kiss when someone punched the car. 

“C’mon love birds,” Piper and Jason gave Leo a killing stare. In return the boy just laughed. “You guys are half an hour late already.” They sighed and Jason gave Piper a light kiss on the forehead. 

“Let’s go. I’ll walk you to your class.” Jason said and Piper smiled. She nodded and turned to leave. Leo opened her door and offered a hand to her. She accepted it and got out of the car. Once the door was closed she hit Leo’s stomach with her elbow. 

“You’re lucky we love you.” She said, flipping her hair and taking Jason’s arm.

***

Annabeth’s first class was History of Architecture. She had delayed that one for as much as she could but as it was her last year she had to be done with that. History was never one of her favourite subjects, at least not academic history. She never managed to feel like she would learn real history so she’d rather read about it than have someone talking for hours about something she didn’t care. 

That’s the reason why she got so surprised to see a class full of students and no professor. She quickly searched the room for a familiar face, eyes soon finding a waving Will Solace turned to her. She smiled and went to sit next to him. Will was a medicine student, they used to be neighbours and the two of them and Piper were close friends since High School. As soon as she settled her things, a man came running through the door. He had short black hair and big sea-green eyes. He was probably in his late twenties and was carrying his things so clumsily that Annabeth feared he would trip soon. 

Taking a good second look on him Annabeth could see how cute he was. He was wearing a blue shirt and dark jeans, with a twisted cream tie. She smiled while she kept analysing him but soon stopped when he reached the professor’s table and put his things down. “Oh, great.” She said, thinking out loud. 

“Complaining?” Will asked, grinning at her. Annabeth rolled her eyes but smiled. She turned to the professor again. He was looking for something and after some time he fished a piece of chalk from his bag. He went to the board and said as he started writing: 

“I’m sorry I’m late guys. Traffic was a bitch.” He quickly covered his mouth. “Shit.” He said and put his hand on his forehead. “Damnit.” He turned to the class. “Sorry.” That earned him some laughs. He smiled and Annabeth felt her heart racing a little. She swallowed hard and Will laughed again, getting an elbow on his ribs. 

“Shut up.” She whispered and turned her attention back to the man in front of her. He started writing professor and stopped on the letter F. Annabeth laughed and leaned his head on her left hand. He quickly gave up and put a point on it, writing Prof. Perseus Jackson. He turned back to the students, checking if anyone had noticed his difficulty and wiped his hands on each other as he walked to stay in front of his table. Annabeth noticed how embarrassed he looked, all rosy cheeks and paying too much attention to his hands. She smiled. It was cute. 

“So, hello.” He started saying, scanning the class. “I’m professor Perseus Jackson,” He said, pointing to the board. “but you can call me” He stopped, eyes meeting Annabeth’s. They stared at each other for just seconds but Annabeth smiled. 'Good thing I’m not the only one getting affected here.' She thought and flipped her hair by instinct. She saw the professor gulping and trying to find his words. As he was still a bit speechless, she gave him a small nod pointing the rest of the class for motivation. He smiled at that and cleared his throat. 

“You can call me Percy.”


	2. Have you heard of Mr. Perfect Eyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey again. So, this one is longer because the first one was really just an introduction. Hope you guys like it!

The rest of the class went on okay. Percy talked a little about his academic life, where he had graduated and what led him to become a teacher. He lost himself while talking about his college days. Every once in a while his eyes would meet with Annabeth’s and Percy choked on his words. She smiled every time and quickly looked away. She could see that almost every girl and some of the boys were looking at him like he was an angel coming from heaven to give the word of God. She noticed that they kept giggling like teenagers even when the professor said no joke. Some of them, Annabeth looked in horror, had put their chins on their hands with their elbows on the table. She blinked at that, it wasn’t a vision. Even Will by her side seemed lost on Percy Jackson’s magic.

By the time the man decided to explain why blue was his favourite colour Annabeth lost it. He was cute and all, she was loving their exchange of looks and he seemed to be a good professor, but she couldn’t take any more of that. She got her stuff together and was about to get up and leave when Percy finally looked at his watch. “Damn guys, sorry. I lost track of time.” He gave the class a huge smile and they just giggled a little more. Annabeth held herself and just rolled her eyes. “Anyway, if you have any question you can just send me emails and if anyone is interested I’m planning on make a study group.” He glanced to Annabeth and she smiled again, despite her slight irritation. “Every Tuesday and Thursday, 7 p.m., my office. It’ll begin probably next week. Have a nice week.” He clapped, nodded and went to his chair.

Annabeth got up to leave. She felt her phone vibrate on her pocket and picked it up to check. It was a message from Piper telling her where she and Jason would be so she could meet them for lunch. Annabeth looked to Will who seemed to be lost at a very interesting part of the classroom. She called his name twice before waving a hand in front of his face. “What?” He asked, being took a little by surprise.

“I wanted to know if you want to join me and the guys for lunch.” She said, looking at the direction he was looking at. “What’s so interesting over there?” Annabeth squeezed her eyes in concentration but Will was soon on his feet, pushing her toward the door.

“Nothing, nothing.” He said as he hushed her outside.

“Come on Will, tell me.” She said the last word longer throwing her head back, touching Will’s shoulder and making her best puppy face. “Please.” She did it again and pouted. Will sighed.

“Later.” He told her, pointing to the door. “Now, could we go please?” He asked and she nodded. Annabeth straightened her back and her eyes met Percy’s once more. He quickly turned back to a book on his desk and the girl smiled again. ‘This is going to be an interesting class.’ She thought.

***

“So,” Annabeth started. “What’s so interesting that made you lose attention from Mr. Beautiful Eyes and get that dumb smile on your face?”

“Mr. Beautiful Eyes hun?” Will said. “You would know, he only looked at you.” He laughed.

“He did not.” Annabeth took it as an offense. “He looked at everybody. And I don’t know if you noticed but half the class was ready to ask for an autograph by the end of it. Including someone I know.” She said, poking him on the chest.

“I’ll not deny it.” Will put his arms up. “But it doesn’t change the fact that he lost the air of his lungs every time he looked at you.” Will looked at Annabeth and silently challenged her to deny that.

“He did not.” She repeated, much less confidently this time. She indeed had caught Percy clearing his throat once or twice after looking at her, so she decided to drop it and after that they walked a little in silence through the campus. Annabeth had her head working on something to say so Will wouldn’t have the last word, or at least the last reasonable argument. “Wait a minute,” She said. “you never answered what you were looking at.” Annabeth looked at Will triumphantly.

“Nothing.” He said simply. “There was a chip on the wall.” Annabeth looked at him in disbelief like she was saying ‘really? You have nothing better on you?’ She stared at him for a while and gave up. She then decided to change the subject.

“Fine. I won’t ask anymore.” She looked at him and Will nodded, smiling a little. “But I have another question.”

“Shoot.” Will said.

“What a medicine student like yourself would want with a History of Architecture class?” She asked and Will tensed a little.

“I like history.” He said simply.

“Actually, my friend, you do not.” She replied and Will frowned.

“Excuse me?” Will started to laugh his way out.

“That’s why I thought it was weird to see you today. I remember your struggle with Mr. Quiron in High School. You only passed because I gave you all the answers to the tests.” Annabeth said it like she was trying to explain to Will he was wrong about himself and something clicked. “Wait a minute.” She said calmly, word by word. “I get it now.” She smiled at her sudden realisation. “That’s what you were looking before,” She started to gesticulate a lot while telling her theory, it was something she always did when she got excited. “the reason you’re doing a history class that you hate.” Her smile got even bigger when she saw Will’s defeated face. She clapped and giggled at that.

“Fine, fine, you’re right. Hooray.” Will said, but he seemed embarrassed.

“Oh Will, don’t be like that, I’m your oldest friend.” She started to pet his shoulder. “I’m sorry, I’ll stop.” He looked at her suspiciously. “I’m serious.” She put one hand on her heart and the other up, palm facing Will. “Promise.” That got her a smile.

“Technically, Piper is my oldest friend.” Annabeth frowned and Will explained. “You were quite the bitch when we met. Thought I was going to steal the Beauty Queen from you and we only started hanging out on the first year of High School.”

“I did not.” She said again, offended. “And don’t call her that.” Annabeth made an angry face and Will got a little scared, Annabeth had that power. “Beauty Queen hates when people call her that.” It took Will a while to get the joke but they both laughed hysterically.

They walked in silence again for a while, almost reaching the place Piper and Jason would be. “I’ve been into him for a while you know?” Will started, hands moving on his hair nervously and Annabeth nodded, encouraging him to continue but said nothing. “But I never really knew what to say or do and when I happened to see his name on the list for this class I thought ‘why not right?’” Will suddenly got very interested on his hands. After a while he looked at Annabeth, but the girl said nothing. “You’re really good at promises you know?”

“I know.” She said and they both smiled.

“Okay,” Will said. “You get one question and one question only. Think carefully.” Annabeth nodded and thought for a while.

“Alright, here it goes, prepare yourself.” She smiled and it was Will’s turn to roll his eyes.

“Just go girl.”

“Fine, buzz kill. My question is, duh duh duuuh,” She said dramatically. “What’s the cute’s name?” She looked at Will to see if that was out of limits. The boy just sighed and turned to Annabeth.

“Fine, I’ll tell you, but don’t laugh or jugde. And specially don’t freak out.” Annabeth started to raise her hand again to repeat her ceremony and Will stopped her. “There’s no need of it, I trust you.” She smiled and waited. Will let the air in his lungs out loudly before finish. “Okay, it’s Nico.” Annabeth’s eyes got wilder. “Nico di Angelo.”

***

Piper and Jason’s classes had ended earlier, so they decided to rest by a tree while waiting for Annabeth. Piper had texted her giving the coordinates to where they would be. The couple was walking holding hands in a comfortable silence until they reached a good spot. Jason dropped his backpack and sat on the ground, leaning on a tree. He reached for Piper’s bag and the girl passed it on. Jason carefully put it on the floor and moved so Piper could sit between his legs. The girl leaned on her boyfriend’s chest and they connected their hands. They had been dating since the last year of High School, when Jason moved to her school. They knew each other better than they knew themselves. Their inner conversations were getting so good that someone who didn’t knew them could even think they actually talked mentally.

Piper closed her eyes and let Jason play with her fingers, a lazy smile on her lips. She thought how lucky she was to had found the love of her life so easily. They weren’t perfect, no one was anyway, but she was sure they were quite near. Her smile got wilder with that thought. If only she could she would make the whole world as happy as she was. Or at least one girl.

“What’s that babe?” Jason asked, feeling Piper tense.

“Nothing.” She answered, opening her eyes and looking at their connected fingers. Jason frowned and lifted her chin tenderly so she would look at him.

“Nothing?” He said, raising an eyebrow to her and tilting his head. Piper sighed. There was no way she could fool that wonderboy of hers.

“It’s just that,” She started looking for words. “we’re here, happy and I wished,” She got lost and growled, letting her face fall on Jason’s chest. The boy just laughed a little and held her closer.

“She will find someone,” He said, catching easily on Piper’s thoughts. “She will find someone to put those walls down, you’ll see.” He kissed Piper’s head and before the girl could say anything a voice spoke in front of them.

“Put whose what down?” Leo said, smiling at the couple in front of them. “Cause I can get my hammer ready in no time.”

***

“Nico di Angelo?” Annabeth shouted.

“Louder Annie,” Will said, annoyed. “I don’t think his sister heard you from New Orleans.” Annabeth put her hands on her mouth and looked around them. Nobody seemed to be paying attention to them so she continued.

“Oh please, don’t be such a, wait a minute,” She said, turning to stare at Will. “how exactly do you know his sister lives in New Orleans?” She noticed Will blush. “You’ve talked to him already? Or was it Jason?” She frowned.

“Not quite.” He started, looking for the best words. “I’ve been, one could say, gathering information.” He looked to Annabeth, waiting for her reaction. Her mouth was slightly open in surprised. She rolled her eyes.

“Gathering information?” She asked. “And how’s that working out for you Norman Bates?”

“I like to believe I’m more of a Nancy Drew.” Will said, trying to light the mood of the conversation but Annabeth was not giving in.

“Will,” She started calmly, looking for good arguments. “He’s just a kid.” Will looked away and blushed.

“He’s not really a kid.” He started. “He’s in college after all.”

“Yeah, because he’s some kind of genius, but he’s not even 17.” She was waving her hands again, trying to put some sense on Will’s head.

“Actually,” Annabeth stared in disbelief. “he’ll be 17 this year.”

“Oh great, that’s a good argument dear. Your age difference will go from seven to six yes. Improvement.” Will gave a forced smile trying to make Annabeth go easy on him and the girl sighed. “Just,” she said. “Try not to get yourself hurt Sunny Boy.” Will laughed, he hated the nickname when he was a child, but now it was cute. “You know you can get into things too quick and too deep.” She put a hand on his shoulder and finished. “Not to mention that Jason would kill you if you did something to that boy.”

“That’s because in comparison Annie, anyone who has feels get to quick and deep for you.” Will raised his eyebrows to her. “And I know. But that’s the thing Annie, Nico is,” He waved his hands looking for the word. “different.” He sighed and Annabeth was about to answer when she spotted their friends. Jason was laughing at something Leo was saying and Piper had her face hidden on her hands, clearly blushing.

“Annie.” Jason shouted, even though they were pretty closer and waved for them. Piper looked up and smiled to Annabeth guiltily. “We’ll talk about this later.” Annabeth whispered to Will and sat on the ground, laying on Piper’s leg.

“Are you calmer now Babygirl?” The brunette asked while taking Annabeth’s hair out of her eyes.

“Yeah.” She answered. “I’m sorry about earlier.” She looked up to stare at Piper and the girl smiled. “You too honey.” Annabeth reached for Jason leg and the boy squeezed her hand in response.

“What happened this morning?” Will asked. He kissed Piper’s head and offered his hand to Leo for a shake. The boy reached for it but soon excused himself to get a phone call and said he would meet them soon for lunch. They nodded and waved at him. Will sat by Jason’s side and put his fist up for a pump and the blond followed.

“It was no big deal.” Piper started, turning her attention to Will. “Annie was a little nervous this morning because Jason and I got up a little late,” She blushed at that but Will said nothing. “so Annie was worried about her class.” She looked at Annabeth but the girl just shrugged.

“Would you look at that.” Will started and Annabeth eyed him. “I can imagine her reaction to that.” Will looked at Annabeth in a mischievous way and finished. “And she didn’t even knew who the professor was. Pipes, because you’re my oldest friend I’ll give you some advice,” Will was barely controlling his laughs, “Never get late on Monday again. Annie would hate to miss any part of Mr. Perfect Eyes classes.” Piper started to gesticulate so much Annabeth had to get up.

“Thanks Sunny Boy.” Annabeth said and turned to Jason looking for help, but the boy seemed to be having too much fun already. 

“News.” Piper started to clap and giggle. “I love news. And about a professor.” She got up a little, reaching for Will’s shoulder. “I want to know everything. The colour of the perfect eyes, the name, the height, the age, how in love he already is with Annie. All.” She smiled at Will who smiled back.

“Do you have time?” Will asked and Piper made a noise of excitement.

“All in the world.” She was smiling wildly and Annabeth got up to lean on Jason’s shoulder.

“Please make it stop.” She tried to hide her face on his chest and he started massaging her head.

“We both know it’s better to let it go Annie.” Annabeth’s response was to grunge while Piper paid close attention to Will’s words.

***

 “Yes,” Piper said. “Hell yes. Hell freaking yes.” She sat on Will’s lap and started kissing his cheek. “That’s the best thing I heard all day. Bless be your love for history Mr. Doctor.” She kept kissing until she remembered something. “Wait a minute, you hate history.” She held Will on both sides of his face. “Annie is the reason why you got a degree in High School.” She started looking between Annabeth and Will. “What are you doing in a history class?”

“Yes Will, what are you doing in a history class?” Annabeth teased. “Looking for broken chips on the walls? Or maybe angels in the ceiling?” Annabeth said, angrily. She had the intention of keeping Percy and his slight interest in her a secret and now she was going for revenge.

“Angels?” Jason asked, a little confused. “What do you mean?” He looked at her but she had her attention on Will.

“Examples.” Annabeth answered. Will just sighed. He knew he had gone too far with the whole Percy Jackson thing.

“I, It’s just that, well,” Will was looking for words, blushing brightly. Annabeth’s anger eased a little, seeing him so lost.

“Will has a crush,” She said and the boy looked at her, glancing at Jason apprehensively. “But he refuses to tell me the boy’s name.” Will seemed to relax and Annabeth continued. “Anyway, being the creep stalker he is he found out the boy would be on that class and there he went.” Will gave her a weak smile and Annabeth nodded. Piper stared at them for a while but gave up.

“Well, as long as this boy isn’t Mr. Perfect Eyes I’m fine.” Annabeth frowned and the girl explained. “That one is yours already Babygirl.” The blond just rolled her eyes.

“Could we drop the whole professor thing and go eat? I’m starving.” Annabeth said, a little too loud.

“Yeah, we can go eat, but don’t you think for a second I’m giving this up.” She smiled and Annabeth looked at Jason again.

“Please?” She said.

“Sorry Annie, you’re on your own.” They got up and Jason went to hold Piper by the waist. “She’s the one keeping me warm at night, I’m on her side.” Piper smiled and Jason kissed her hair.

“Disgusting.” Annabeth said, shaking her head and the four of them went to have lunch.   

***

Jason’s phone rang when they were about to enter the cafeteria. “It will take just a minute babe.” Jason said to Piper after taking a look at the name on the screen. “You guys can go and find a table. I’ll be there soon.” He smiled and at that moment Leo appeared back. Piper looked at Annabeth and the girl took both Will and Leo by the arms and rushed them inside.

“You’re sure?” Piper asked, looking carefully on Jason’s face for a reaction.

“I am.” He answered. “I have to do it sooner or later right?” She nodded and kissed his cheek while he answered it. “Hello dad.” Jason said to the phone and Piper left him alone. She sighed and went to find their friends. They were in line to get the food and as it was already a little later than lunch time, she managed to get behind Will in line. The boy turned to her and frowned.

“You ok?” He asked.

“Tired.” She lied. “Don’t worry.” Piper smiled and Will seemed to give up.

“That’s what you get from laughing so much of me.” Annabeth said, standing in front of Will and getting the tension from Piper. “Karma.”

“Worthy it.” The girl said and Annabeth smiled.

The four of them got their food and went to find a table. Annabeth sat by Piper’s right side leaving the left one for Jason, Will and Leo on the other chairs. The blond girl squeezed her friend’s knee and Piper gave a weak smile. Annabeth didn’t know the story very well, but she knew Jason had serious problems with his dad and that Piper always got worried about it. The other boys, thought, didn’t seem to get that, chatting about the people around them. The girls paid attention and soon started to participate.

“Damn.” Annabeth said as a tall guy passed by them. His hair had a light colour, but his beard was brightly red.

“Damn.” Will repeated and Leo stared at him.

“You’re gay?” He asked, a little shocked.

“Yeah?” Will said, unsure. “You didn’t know?”

“Not really.” He said, looking at his plate.

“Guess you don’t really go out so much with the good part of the gang.” Will said, offering his hand to Annabeth for a high-five. Seeing that Leo made no joke Will asked: “You’re cool man?” He looked at Annabeth and Piper, who were also staring at Leo.

“Sure man.” He said, mouth full of food. “Do whatever you want. Or whoever you want.” Leo said and went back to his lunch. Will laughed at that but seemed worried. Piper looked at him and made a gesture for him to let go. At that moment something got Annabeth’s attention behind Will and she tried to warn him, but he already had his glass of juice on his mouth when he saw Piper smile and Jason speak behind him:

“Hey guys, do you remember my cousin Nico?”

***

It wasn’t pretty. Will managed to spit on both Annabeth and Piper and Nico looked at him as if he was from another planet. “Sup?” Will asked, nodding to Nico while some juice felt from his mouth. Annabeth covered her face and Nico gave him a weird smile while answering ‘sure’. Jason went to sit by Piper’s side and Will tried to make place for Nico but he only managed to put his chair on Leo’s feet. Annabeth tried to gave him signs to calm but he kept making mistake after mistake. After what felt like ages Nico got up and said he had to go to class. He shook Jason’s hand and gave Piper a kiss on hers. He waved to the rest of them and gave Will a weird look again, frowning a little to himself as he left. After a while Leo got another call and excused himself again.

“Well, I guess this is it.” Jason said, clearly oblivious to Will’s difficulties. “Piper and I will go for,” He thought about it for a while. “desert. Bye.” He winked and got up. Piper shook her head but smiled anyway.

“Bye guys.” She kissed them both and they left holding hands.

“Okay,” Annabeth started after a while. “I think that went swell.” She tried her best to smile but Will hid his face on his hand and grunted.

“Swell? Really?” He said, looking at her from between his fingers. “He probably thing I’m stupid or something. And you saw the way Jason’s get all big brotherly near him. Annabeth, I’m doomed.” She looked at him but didn’t really know what to say.

“Maybe he thinks you’re cute or didn’t even see,” She motioned around them. “all that.” She tried and he grunted again.

“Oh he saw. And no, he doesn’t think I'm cute, did you see the look on his face when he left?” Annabeth nodded slightly. “Any chance I had, any, disappeared. Any of them.” He laid his head on his forearms.

“Maybe he has a thing for stupids?” Annabeth tried to break the mood but Will started grunting again until a voice spoke above them:

“Maybe who has a thing for stupids?” Piper asked, looking at them and Will straightened himself quickly.

“No,” He clearly his throat. “No one.” He tried but she eyed them.

“You’ll tell me now.” She sat by Annabeth, who tried to help Will.

“Why you’re back? I thought you’d go for desert.” Piper gesture to her to let go.

“Yeah, yeah. I forgot my purse. Now, stop trying to take my attention from this. You always do that.” Piper looked from Annabeth back to Will. “Speak.”

Will sighed and gave up. “My crush.” Piper nodded. “It’s Nico.” Will said and leaned farther on his chair, a bit afraid of Piper’s reaction but the girl just thought for a while.

“Looking back,” She said, her hand on her chin. “it makes sense.” She looked at Will and suddenly realise something. “Oh my god, Jason’s going to kill you.” She said and Annabeth nodded.

"My exact words." She said and both girls started to laugh.

“Great, laugh at the inevitable death of your friend.” Will said and laid his head back to his forearm.

Piper stopped laughing and looked at Annabeth. “How bad is it?” She asked.

“Pretty bad.” Annabeth answered.

“Hmm.” Piper said and put a finger on her mouth, thinking. “We’ll have to do something about it then.” She said and Will looked up.

“What do you mean?” He asked and she smiled.

“Don’t you worry your pretty blond head Sunny Boy.” Piper said. “ I give a month for Nico to be in love with you.”


	3. Crazy things happen on a Saturday night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to make it shorter, I really did. But I wanted to finish this chapter like this so I hope you guys like it.

Piper’s plan was very simple actually. The first part was bringing Jason to it, what, in fact, was really easy. She brought the subject up on an afternoon while they were curled up together in bed after she had ridden him.

“I was thinking babe,” She started and Jason opened one eye lazily to show her he was paying attention. “we should hang out with Nico more.” Seeing her boyfriend frowning Piper explained. “I’m mean, he’s just started college and he seems a little lost.” The girl noticed that Jason was considering what she said. “And you’re like brothers, so I thought ‘Why not?’ right?” She waited for his response.

“Well, I think we could work something out.” Jason began. “But Pipes, I must warn you, Nico may be young and all but believe me, he knows how to get around.” Jason chuckled.

“And by get around you mean?” She asked.

“Well, he’s a gay kid who studied in an all boys school pretty much all his life. I will say no more, you’re a lady.” Jason looked at Piper and the girl had her mouth opened in surprise. Jason laughed at that. “But tell me babe, where did this idea came from?” He asked, shifting a little so Piper could lay on his chest and look at him.

“Well, it’s not really a selfless act.” She started, her chin resting on her hand over Jason’s body. “You see, I was talking on the other day to Annie and Will and, well, you remember Will’s crush right?” She asked, weirdly dancing around words. It didn’t matter if Nico was or wasn’t just an innocent boy starting college, Piper knew Jason would still end anyone who even thought about hurting that boy. The blond on his end watched her speech and nodded at the last part, raising an eyebrow. “So, that’s the thing, Nico’s Will’s crush and Annie and I are trying to get them together.” She rushed through the last and hid his face on her hands, looking to Jason through her fingers.

“Hmm,” Jason said and Piper frowned, raising her head.

“You’re ok with it?” She asked and the boy shrugged.

“Not sure yet.” Jason said and Piper tilted her head, asking silently for an explanation. “Well, Will is harmless and he’s a great guy. So, if Nico wanted to be with him that’d be awesome. The thing is, I don’t think he would.” Jason said the last words slowly, like a question, moving his hands to show Piper his point. “So in the end I’d be more worried about Sunny Boy than about my cousin.”

“And you’re ok with the age difference?” Piper asked. Jason breathed harder and passed a hand through his hair.

“Nico’s been through a lot Pipes,” He said, face serious now. “and even if we hate it, he grew up too fast. Since Bianca,” Jason started but stopped and swallowed harder. Piper knew the story well. Family trip, car crash, Nico’s sister dying and their mother leaving. She cupped Jason’s face with her hand. They’d been the same age and had grown up together. Since that Jason decided he’d be the big brother Nico needed and he never left his side. “Anyway,” He said, letting a teardrop fall from the corner of his eye. Piper quickly wiped it out. “since that Nico’s never been the same. And you know, people deal differently with grief. I took Bianca’s place in his life and Nico decided to,” Jason chuckled, despite his red eye. “explore his sexuality, let’s put it like this, as much as he could.” Piper smiled and leaned closer to him, supporting him.

“You’ve been doing a wonderful job Jay.” She said, hugging him hard.

“But it’s not the same you know.” Piper heard the tears on his voice and pressed her body closer to his.

“I know.” Piper was an only child, daughter of a famous couple of actors who had made well on the first two years of marriage and parent’s life. But Hollywood was bigger and Piper was left with her grandfather. She never knew what it was like to have siblings until she met Annabeth. She could only imagine what it had been for Nico, since she had no idea what life would be like without that blond stubborn of hers. “But he’s still very lucky to have you.” She smiled and got up a little to kiss Jason’s lips. “You know what I want?” Piper asked, after a while, trying to light the mood.

“Hm?” Jason said simply, holding her and smiling a little.

“After sex pancakes.” She grinned and Jason laughed.

“I love your after sex pancakes.” She kissed him again and started to get up, picking Jason’s shirt from the floor and putting her panties on.

“So you can come and help me and maybe I can make a chocolate one.” Piper yelped in surprise when Jason quickly hugged her from behind and buried his face on her neck.

“I freaking love you.” Jason said and Piper turned to face him.

“I freaking love you too.” She pushed him kindly down so she could kiss him. “My wonderboy.” She finished and he hugged her.

“Thanks.” He said, face on her neck again.

“We’re a team babe.” She kissed his neck. “When one is down the other,” She didn’t finish her sentence because Jason was kissing her again, hungrily, lifting her so she could wrap her legs around his waist and taking both of them to the kitchen.

***

“Would you mind to go through your plan again my dear?” Will asked Piper, irritated with her strategy.

“Will, thrust me, it’ll work.” She put a reassuring hand on his shoulder but the boy’s face didn’t softened.

“It’s simple Sunny Boy.” Annabeth started. “We all hang out together this weekend, you throw all your charm on Oliver Twist and bam, love.” She made an explosion motion and Will just stared at her.

“Oh I get the general idea alright.” He said, crossing his legs and hugging Annabeth’s pillow. “But may I remind you all of my spectacular failure at lunch on Monday?” The girls started to laugh and Annabeth said.

“Yeah, that was not very Casanova of you. But every day is a new day and we believe in you.” She put her hand over her chest and Piper just laughed harder.  Will hit them both with his pillow and hugged it back.

“Stop laughing at me.” Will said, roughly, as he laid in bad.

“Ok, we’re sorry.” Piper said, motioning between herself and Annabeth.

“I’m not.” The blond said and Piper glanced at her. “Fine, we’re sorry.” Annabeth said annoyed.

“There’s just one thing I don’t get.” Piper said, looking serious now. “You’re the guy that made the whole basketball team come out, I’m mean, almost everybody,” She pointed to her room. “and if I recall it well you had like twenty prom dates on our senior year. Why are you getting all worked out over a kid?”

“That’s right. I spent three months sending looks to Jake Mason, hoping he’d ask me for prom and then, you.” Annabeth said, waving her hands in front of Will. “You can get any guy you want, what’s the problem?”

Will grunted and started to toss and turn on the bed. Piper and Annabeth quickly exchanged looks, making a plan. Annabeth went for the pillow and Piper for Will. When they managed to separate them they focussed on him. Piper put his head on her crossed legs and Annabeth pulled his legs over her own. Will closed his eyes defeated and let his head relax on Piper’s legs. “It was twenty three. And can’t I at least have the pillow?” He asked.

“No.” They answered in unison.

Will grunted a little more but gave up, opening his eyes. “Fine.” He said. “You guys win.” He rubbed his hands on his face roughly, before starting again. “It’s just that he’s so cute you know?” Will whined and the girls just giggled, waiting for him to continue. “And he’s a genius because he started college at 16 and I think it’s really cute how his hair falls on his face and he just puts it behind his ear, I mean, can’t you cut it or something, it’s getting really long,” Will kept babbling, gesticulating like he was talking to Nico himself and the girls just glanced at each other every once in a while. “and his face is also a problem. Have you seen his face? Have you seen his eyes when the sun hits it? No eye should have that colour, it’s like brown marries yellow and they make the colour of heaven.” Will sighed and the girls thought he had stopped but then he began again. “And have you heard him talking Italian?”

“Man, you’ve passed the head over hills phase a long time ago.” Jason said, catching all of them out of guard. The blond laughed and went to kiss Piper, kissing also Annabeth’s head and leaning to kiss Will’s forehead as well.

“You’re not mad?” Will asked, looking worried at Jason.

“Nah man, Piper told me you had a crush on Nico, the thing is I never thought it was this bad.” Jason said, hugging the pillow that had been thrown on the floor.

“So you’re fine with me wanting Nico?” Will asked, the girls glancing between both boys.

“Will, man, Nico’s not an innocent boy walking alone to his grandma’s house neither you are the big bad wolf.” Jason said, a playful smile on his lips. “And I’ve known you for quite a while now. Not to mention you’re the best friend of the two girls whose judgment I thrust the most.” He came closer to the bed and stared at Will. “But if you’re looking for a threat I’ll give you one. I’ll help you with my cousin because you seem to be really into him. If I see that you’re not good for him or if you hurt him in any way, mark my words Solace, I’ll break you.” Jason said, him face so serious that Will gulped and only nodded.

“Damn that’s hot.” Piper said, and Jason laughed, making Will feel a little better. “Let’s light the mood. We need a party.”   

***

Jason had to meet his father on their first weekend after classes had started so Annabeth, Piper and Will spent it watching Doctor Who. They got into an argument about who was the best companion of the revival and while Piper kept yelling at them that Rose was ‘the most awesome female character to be ever freaking created’, Annabeth yelled back that Martha was the best because she was strong enough to leave the doctor and go after someone who didn’t took her for granted. Will kept quiet on his place and when asked by two screaming girls he whispered his favourite companion was Donna and they accepted it. In the end they decided to watch only eleven’s episodes, so they wouldn’t get into another argument. By ‘the girl who waited’ episode, on Sunday afternoon, they were all crying and hugging themselves.

“I love you Rory Williams.” Piper shouted.

“I must say I’m hurt.” Jason said, closing the door behind him, with two boxes of pizza. “Did you guys spent the entire weekend watching Doctor Who?” He asked.

“Maybe.” Annabeth answered getting up and quickly wiping her eyes. “Did you bring pizza?” She asked excited.

“Maybe.” Jason said, putting it on the counter and going for the plates. “Piper texted me yesterday saying you guys were on for a marathon and then disappeared, so I figured you’d be hungry.” Annabeth hugged him and kissed his cheek when he got back with the plates.

“Honey, I love you.” She said. Will paused the episode and went for the pizza too.

“Jason’s being harassed over here Pipes, aren’t you going to do something?” Will asked playfully.

“Nah, Annie can have him. I just want the centurion.” Piper said, coming to get some soda to put on the table and avoiding Jason’s arms reaching for her.

“Someone got jealous.” Annabeth said and exchanged looks with Jason. He nodded slightly and they put their plates down on the dinner table before going over to Piper, each one on one side of her. When they were both near enough Annabeth shouted. “Now.” They both attacked her and started tickling her until the three of them fell on the couch.

“Say you love us.” Jason demanded while Piper kept laughing and shaking, trying to escape from their hands.

“Never.” She said. “Will, help me.” She asked and Will came for the rescue. The problem was that Annabeth and Jason were a very good team, managing to control both of them easily under tickles. After a while they all got tired and the blonds released them. They all sat on the couch for a while, patting.

“I love you, all of you.” Piper said and leaned on Jason’s shoulder, who kissed his head.

“Wait a minute,” Annabeth said, looking over her shoulder. “while we’re here there are two pizzas getting cold over there.” They looked to where Annabeth was pointing and suddenly started to run, pushing each other to try to get there first.

***

“I swear Jason’s sleeping on the couch tomorrow.” Annabeth said as they arrived on the parking lot of the university.

“I give up on saying we’re sorry Annie. But look on the bright side,” Piper said, turning to Annabeth with a mischievous smile on her lips. “today is Mr. Perfect Eyes’ class. He won’t mind you are a couple of minutes late.”

Annabeth rolled her eyes and checked her watch. “Try twenty minutes.” She kissed Piper and Jason’s cheek. “Let’s try to get here a little earlier next time, what do you think?” She said and leaving the car.

“You’re nicer already. Man, I’m shipping you now. Imagine after your first date you’ll be cooking for us.” Jason said and Piper put a hand on her mouth to avoid laughing too loudly.

“Fuck you honey.” Annabeth said and smiled, closing the door behind her. She ran through campus and quickly arrived to her classroom. She noticed that Percy was late again and soon found Will, his bag on the chair by his side, saving Annabeth’s seat and looking to the other end of the class dreamily. She got near his ear and whispered: “You keep looking at him like this he’s getting a restraining order.”

Will jumped a little and Annabeth bit his ear playfully. “I,” Will tried. “I was not, I mean.” The girl raised an eyebrow and tilted her head. Will sighed and gave up. “Fine, you’re right. But just look at him.” He said, pointing Nico with his head, before letting it fall on the desk in front of him. The younger boy was alone on his side of the class, reading a book with his headphones on. Annabeth tried to see which was but couldn’t. She patted Will on the head. “He’s so cute.”

“I know Sunny Boy, I know.” Will raised his head and held it up with one hand, elbow on the desk, while Annabeth set her things. They both stared a little at Nico while Will said every detail he admired on the boy. Annabeth murmured something every once in a while, taking her time to analyze him. After a while the boy frowned and suddenly looked to his right, catching Will and Annabeth looking at him. The blond boy’s head escaped from his hand and fell on the table. Annabeth squeezed her eyes and avoided looking at him. She waved and smiled at Nico, who waved back but kept looking at Will, a weird look that Annabeth couldn’t decipher. Will managed to look at Nico and nod a little, getting a nod back from the boy. He quickly turned to the front of the classroom and let out a deep breath when Percy arrived, just as clumsily as the first time, carrying more things than he seemed to be able to.

“Hey guys.” He said as he went to his desk. “I’m sorry I’m late. Again.” He finished and the class already started to giggled so Annabeth just rolled her eyes. She was taken from her thoughts when Will’s head fell on her shoulder.

“This is a sign Annie.” He said and Annabeth started massaging his hair with her right hand. “The universe is telling me this whole Nico thing is a bad idea.” Annabeth chuckled at that. She loved Will’s superstitions. “I’m serious. I can’t even look at the guy without doing something stupid. I should just give up.”

Annabeth was about to reply to that when Percy spoke to the class. “So guys, I was thinking after our class last week that we have many students here. So what do you think about we take a little bit of today’s class to talk with each other and get to know everybody.” He smiled and the class started to talk lively between them. Will grunted at that, still on Annabeth’s shoulder. The girl, on the other hand, was a little disturbed that Percy was clearly avoiding looking at her.

The professor went to his table, picked up a small red ball and raised it to show the class.

“So,” Percy said. “I’ll give to a student this ball and he or she will tell me their names, major, why they chose this class and if they want they can share something personal with the class and then you pass the ball to someone.” He smiled and nodded. Will deepened his face on Annabeth’s shoulder.

“Your something personal is that you’re trying to get to jail before you’re 30.” The girl said and Will laughed, despite himself.

“It’s legal.” He replied close to her ear.

“Sure. But is it morally legal?” Annabeth asked and they both laughed.

Meanwhile Percy had thrown the ball to a boy sitting near him, Lee Fletcher, a medicine student who loved history and liked to do archery on his free time. Lee passed the ball to Katie Gardiner, an engineering student who had to complete extra credits and loved to take care of her orchard. Katie passed the ball to Chris Rodriguez, a psychology student who was going to do the class with his girlfriend but the girl gave up on the last minute and he ended up alone. He seemed so upset about it that he just handed the ball to Nico who was right in front of him.

“Hm,” The boy started and paid a lot of attention to the ball, playing with it on his hands. “My name’s Nico di Angelo and I haven’t decided my major yet. I’m studying humanities and this class was listed as a main credit so I went for it.” He quickly looked at Annabeth and raised his arm to throw the ball. “I also play mythomagic.” He said and tossed it to the girl.

Annabeth caught it easily and turned to face Percy. She noticed he took a deep breath before looking directly at her for the first time in that class. “Well, my name’s Annabeth Chase.” She started. “I study architecture and that’s why I’m doing this class.”

“You don’t like history?” Percy said and seemed to regret saying it as soon at the words left his mouth.

“I love history.” She said irritated because it was the first time Percy asked anything during the game. Will started to cough quietly so only Annabeth could hear him. “But I think that I can learn it better on my own.” Will let out a defeated sigh when the girl flipped her hair.

“So you’re saying that there’s no use of me?” Percy asked, pointing to himself and sounding a little offended, but Annabeth was having none of it. She didn’t like to be ignored.

“I believe that we should study history differently. What happened, not people’s view of it. I think the method of college is wrong.” She said and stared at Percy.

“So you’re already assuming that my classes will be like that without giving me a chance to prove you wrong?” He said and smirked. Annabeth frowned at that and was ready to reply to him but Will quickly put a hand on her knee and spoke above her.

“Annie can get a little carried away about her passions Mr. Jackson.” He smiled and Percy nodded, looking only to Annabeth.

“I must say those are the best people to talk to.” He said and smirked again. Will raised an eyebrow in surprise and laughed. Annabeth snorted and gave Will the ball.

“Your turn now Sunny Boy.” She said and crossed her arms. Will gave Percy an apologetic look and the man chuckled a little.

“I’m Will Solace. I’m in medical school and I play the flute.” He said quickly and threw the ball across the room to a guy he had had classes with. They kept doing that until everybody had caught the ball, Percy back on avoiding looking at Annabeth. He decided to give them a break and when Annabeth and Will were about to leave he called out.

“May I have a word Miss Chase?” She looked at Will but the boy just shook his head and went for the door. On his way he met Nico and stumbled on a chair near him. Nico just gave him another weird look that Will was already getting used to. He quickly glanced back at Annabeth who murmured ‘Karma’. He looked at Percy behind her watching their interaction carefully and murmured back ‘Worth it.' Will got out and Annabeth was soon left alone with Percy Jackson. She came closer to his desk, looking to her feet.   

“Miss Chase, would you care to explain to me your outburst earlier?” Percy said calmly and Annabeth sighed.

“I’m sorry Mr. Jackson.” She said. “It’s just that,” Annabeth started to look for an excuse, because she thought that ‘I got upset because you were not looking at me and choking on your own air’ wasn’t really good enough. “Mondays you know?” She tried to smile but that seemed bullshit even for her.

“You’re telling this to the man who never manages to arrive on time?” He told her and chuckled a little, the tension slightly leaving the air. He leaned on his desk and stared at Annabeth, crossing his arms. “And let’s lose that Mr. I told you guys can call me Percy.” He smiled brightly at her and Annabeth felt her heart skip a beat.

“Only if you lose the Miss. I mean, it makes me feel like an old maid.” She laughed and Percy followed.

“Don’t worry _Annabeth_ , you sure don’t look like an old maid.” Annabeth stopped laughing and stared at him, who seemed to had caught what he said. “I mean,” Percy started, clearing his throat. “ you’re what? 22? 23? You seem very young.” He finished, taking a deep breath and passing his hand through the back of his neck. Annabeth’s eyes followed his hand and concentrated on how the first two buttons of his shirt were opened, showing a little bit of his chest. She forced herself to look back at him.

“23.” She answered quickly and also cleared her throat. “I’m 23 _Percy_.”

“So, like I said, not an old maid.” He smiled and she smiled back. “Anyway,” Percy started to walk to go to his chair. “I’ll try to make your Mondays more interesting. And if you need me for anything,” He motioned toward his office. “I’ll be here.” They stared at each other again and Annabeth nodded, looking forward to leave the classroom.

“Thanks.” She said and left without looking behind her. Once she was out she let out a deep breath.

“That bad?” Will asked. The boy was leaning on the wall next to the door.

“Is it still Monday?” Annabeth asked. “Because I need to get really drunk.”

Annabeth did not come back to the class after the break.

***

After Annabeth’s argument with Percy, they were all looking forward to the weekend. Annabeth had been avoiding everybody’s questions about Monday, even Will's, so she just wanted to have fun for a while. Jason made sure Nico would go as well, so on Saturday they decided to hit the clubs. It was already 11 pm. and the girls were still getting ready, leaving Jason, Will and Leo waiting for them sitting on the living room, watching football. When Will shouted something about a player being the ‘stupidest fucker’ on the team Leo took his attention from his phone, coming to sit near him.

“You like football?” Leo asked Will.

“Yes?” He said, getting a beer from Jason. “Why you’re asking?”

“It’s that you’re, you know, gay, so I thought it wasn’t really your thing.” Leo said and Will looked at Jason, who just shrugged. “I actually thought you’d be with the girls and all.”

“Getting makeup and my hair done right?” Will said. Jason chuckled, recognizing Will’s sense of humour. Leo didn’t know Will that well. “Then I’d get my dress and high heels and go to some gay club right?” 

“Hey man, that’s not what I meant.” Leo started but got interrupted.

“I’m gay Leo, not trans. There’s a difference. Even thought I do love gay clubs.” Will said, but decided to go further. “Actually, the only difference between you and me is that I like dicks.” Will started, getting closer to Leo who started to go slightly away from him, touching the couch’s arm. “I like to swallow them and listen to the owner of said dick moaning while standing in front of me and then have them pushing my hair until they start to fuck my mouth and I wait for them to come down my throat.” Will finished, almost sitting on Leo’s lap. The shorter boy gulped and Will laughed. “Relax Valdez,” Will got back to his place, hitting Leo’s chest lightly. “You’re not my type.” Jason laughed harder and held a fist for Will to pump. 

“We’re ready.” Piper said, coming out of the room with Annabeth right behind her. The brunette was wearing a black skirt with a red blouse and the blond had a long sleeve pink dress on. They were both in high heels and Jason whistled.

“Damn.” He said, getting up to kiss Piper’s cheek, knowing she would be upset if he ruined her fresh made makeup. “You too honey.” He kissed Annabeth’s hand.

“Thanks honey.” She smiled and took Will’s arm so they could go. “Now let’s hurry because if I recall it well Valdez over there has better plans tonight.” She smirked and Leo chuckled.

“I’ll tell you guys about my stuff soon. I like the suspense.” They exchanged looks and laughed, but Annabeth noticed that Will seemed a little upset.

“What’s that Sunny Boy?” She whispered as they left.

“Nothing Annie, don’t worry.” He kissed her hair and she smiled.

“If it’s because of Nico you shouldn’t worry you know. You’ll do great.” Will stared at her.

“We both know that when it comes to that damn boy the last thing I do is great.” Annabeth laughed and Will followed, the tension seemed to had left. Annabeth held him closer just in case.

***

Will was rubbing his hands on his trousers so roughly that Jason was sure they’d start bleeding soon.

“Sunny Boy, could you please relax?” Jason said, running his hand through his hair.

“You’re sure he’s coming right?” Will asked and Jason sighed.

“For the tenth time in the last minute, yes, I am.”

“And how he’s supposed to get in? I mean, he’s not 18 yet.” Will said, holding his hands together to avoid gesticulate too much.

“16 to be more exact.” Annabeth said and she and Piper giggled.

“He’ll be 17 in November.” Jason and Will said in unison and Jason frowned at Will.

“He was, one could say, gathering information.” Annabeth said, mocking Will’s voice.

“That’s creep man.” Jason said but laughed anyway.

“So let me get this straight, no offense,” Leo said, pointing at Will who just rolled his eyes. “You’re into the Ghost King?” He asked.

“Ghost King?” Will turned his question to Jason.

“Well, Nico’s kind of fascinated with ghost and pretty much all this supernatural things, so Leo calls him that.” Jason answered. “Believe me he’s not really a fan of the nickname.”

“And also because he has the terrible habit to appear with anyone seeing him, it’s,” Leo didn’t finish his sentence.

“Who?” Nico asked behind him, making the boy jump and let out a short scream.

“Come on Nico, I’ve told you not to do that.” Jason said, trying to hold his laugher. Annabeth and Piper were not so good at it. Will, on the other hand, had his nails slightly pressing Annabeth’s skin.

“Sorry Leo.” Nico said shyly.

“That’s fine. Don’t worry.” Leo said, one hand over his chest and the other motioning to Nico to let go. The younger boy smiled and Will tightened his nails, making Annabeth yelp. They looked at her and she smiled.

“Since we’re all here let’s go inside. I’m starting to get really cold.” They all nodded and turned to the door. “You could have at least said hello.” Annabeth whispered to Will.

“Sure. Me being me I’d ended up saying hail, or something like that.” Will sighed and Annabeth chuckled.

“Cheer up Sunny Boy, the night’s just starting.”

***

The line to the club was really long, but Peleus, the doorman, knew them and let them pass without even checking Nico’s ID. Once they were inside they quickly got a table and set their things down. They had been there for less than five minutes when Piper held Annabeth’s arms and started to get up.

“Come on Annie, this is our jam.” She smiled and waited for Annabeth.

“You don’t even know what song is that.” Annabeth said, but she was also smiling and already putting her things down on the table.

“Details,” Piper said, waving her hand. “Who cares about details?” Annabeth rolled her eyes and pointed at Jason.

“Why don’t you drag him to the dance floor?” Annabeth whined.

“I’m here for a whole different reason honey.” Jason winked and Annabeth gave up, letting Piper take her to wherever she wanted.

“A different reason?” Nico asked. He was sitting between Jason and Leo. Will now sitting on the other side of Jason after the girls had left.

“Piper seems to think that you need to hang out with us more often. So here I am to avoid making you feel out of place.” Jason said. “Also I think you and Will,” Jason started saying, putting his arms around Will, but got interrupted by Leo’s mobile.

“Sorry guys, I have to go.” He said, looking at the screen.

“But we just got here.” Jason said. Looking between the boys, trying to point Will and Nico.

“I know, sorry. But I have to talk to you Jason. Can you come outside with me?” Leo asked, trying to sound casual. Will notice how Nico observed their interaction, like it was a bad rehearsed scene.

“Sure.” Jason answered, getting up to follow Leo. “Behave yourselves.” He told Nico and Will and left behind Leo.

“Did I miss something?” Nico asked, turning to face Will. The boy tried to lean his head on his chair but he miscalculated the distance and ended up hitting it loudly. He looked at Nico just to see that weird look he always got.

“Nothing. Just,” He cleared his throat. “Saturdays you know.”

***

Piper and Annabeth were dancing to a Lady Gaga song when the blond said.

“We should get drinks, come on.” She pushed her by the arm to the bar. “Hey Mr. D.” Annabeth said and the man turned. He had a chubby face and very curly hair.

“Annabelle, Phoebe.” He said, smiling to them.

“Close enough.” Piper said.

“What you girls want today?” He asked and they thought for a while.

“Surprise us.” Piper said, putting the menu down.

“Right away.” He said and the girls turned to look to the dance floor.

“So,” Piper started and Annabeth raised an eyebrow, turning a little to face her. “What exactly happened on Monday.” The girl tried and Annabeth chuckled.

“Yeah, this conversation is not happening.” Annabeth said and turned when Mr. D called out to tell their drinks were ready.

“Come on Babygirl, give me something. Anything.” Piper started to whine. Annabeth was ready to answer her when she heard behind her.

“Miss Chase?” Annabeth gave Piper a surprised look and before turning she could see a smile forming on Piper's mouth.

“I thought we had agreed on Annabeth Percy.” She smiled and he smiled back.

“Indeed we had. I just wasn’t sure it was you. Annabeth.” He said and offered his hand for a shake. Annabeth quickly took it and heard Piper clearing her throat behind her.

“Hm, Percy, this is Piper, my roommate.” She said, pointing at Piper, who quickly took Percy’s hand on hers.

“And best friend. I’ve heard a lot about you Mr. Jackson.” Piper smiled and poked Annabeth ribs gently with her elbow. “This one can’t shut up about your class.”

“Is that so?” Percy asked, his smile getting wilder. “And please Piper, call me Percy.

“Percy?” Jason asked, putting an arm around Piper’s waist. The girl just rolled her eyes playfully. “Annie’s professor?”

Annabeth started to blush and Percy reached for Jason’s hand. “Apparently she talks a lot about it.” He said. Jason’s face relaxed and he took his hand.

“You have no idea.” He looked at Annabeth and smirked. “And Annie hates history.” He said. “I’m Jason Grace, by the way, Piper’s boyfriend.

“I’ve heard something about that.” Percy said, chuckling a little. “Nice to meet you Jason.

“I don’t hate history. I explained it to the three of you, I’m not saying it again.” Annabeth said. “and Jason, what are you even doing here? Why you’re not following the plan?” She asked, avoiding looking at Percy.

“Well, Leo had to leave so we improvised. Those two are talking at the booth.” Jason pointed to where they were sitting.

“Jason, babe, what were you thinking. The way Will get near Nico when we get there he’ll have ripped his eye with a straw.” Piper said and started to head back to the table, dragging Jason with her. “It was a pleasure Mr. Jackson.” She smiled and they left.

“Will Solace and Nico di Angelo?” Percy asked Annabeth.

“Well, we’re trying to at least.” Annabeth said and chuckled. “But Will doesn’t deal very well with it. To say the least.”

“I did notice one or two exchanged of looks.” Percy said.

“Wait a minute, exchange?” Annabeth asked.

“Yeah, they always look at each other when the other is not looking.” Percy said, as if Annabeth knew that.

“Nico looks at Will?” She asked, getting really excited and waving her hands in front of Percy.

“Pretty much all the time.” Percy said and Annabeth had to hold herself to not hug him.

“That’s awesome. Maybe today won’t be a waste.” She said and noticed that Percy got a little offended. “I mean, because of them you know. For them.” She tried and Percy gave her a weak smile. “Anyway Percy, why you’re here?” She asked. “It doesn’t really seem like your thing.”

“My friend’s going to be a father.” He said, pointing to a booth near them. “So we’re celebrating. Groover and Juniper decided to come here because according to them they won’t be able to do it more when the baby’s born.” He said and looked to the beers he had on the counter. “I better get back to them. It was nice seeing you Annabeth.” Percy said and started to walk away. “Try not to run away from my classes again.”

“Will do.” She said and he left. “Great seeing you too Percy.” Annabeth said to herself. She got her drink and went back to her booth.

***

After her talk with Percy, Annabeth lost a little her will to party. Piper and Jason were getting very drunk and couldn’t keep their hands off each other. Will, after a drink or two manage to talk with Nico like a normal person. As Annabeth was the closest thing to a sober person on the booth she was responsible for the drinks. The last time she got back from the bar Nico and Will had disappeared. She smiled a little at that and left the drinks for the couple, leaving them alone and going to the dance floor. She danced with some people but she just wanted to move. After a while a boy came close to her and Annabeth danced with him a little. She laughed to herself when she realised he had an eye patch. The song ended and Annabeth was getting away from him when the boy tried to kiss her. She pushed him a little and said a gentle ‘no’, but the boy insisted.

“I said no.” Annabeth said rougher and hit his chest.

“I thought we were having fun.” The boy said, coming closer to her.

“I believe the lady said no.” Annabeth and the eye patch guy looked to where the voice was coming from and she let out a relieve sigh when she saw Percy.

“And how’s that your business?” The boy asked.

“It’s not.” Percy said. “But neither it’s yours.” He finished and came closer to them, standing between the boy and Annabeth. “So I’ll have to ask you to leave.”

“What if I don’t want to.” He asked and came closer to Percy.

“Them I’ll make you.” He said calmly. The boy laughed and took a step back, only to came with a fist on Percy’s face. The professor fell and the other laughed again.

“Guess you should find better people to take care of you hot stuff.” Annabeth saw Percy on the floor and then turned to the eye patch boy. She changed her ring from the left hand to the right hand and hit his face as well.

“I don’t need anyone to take care of me.” She said and went to help Percy up. A couple of securities came near them but Annabeth knew them. “Pollux, Castor.” She said and they nodded. “He was harassing me.” She pointed to the boy on the floor. “My friend here was helping me. Where can I get some ice?” She asked and the twins pointed her to the back room. She and Percy went there, hearing the boy shouting behind them.

They arrived to the storage and Annabeth managed to find some ice and wrapped it on a piece of cloth she found. She made Percy sit on a table near there and started to pressure it.

“Thanks for saving me.” Annabeth said and smiled. Percy only snorted.

“It wasn’t my best move I must say.” He hissed a little in pain when she pressured a little more. “I thought you were a damsel in distress.” He smiled despite his pain.

“I am a damsel, I was in distress, but I could handle it. Still, it was really nice of you to come and help.” She used the hand that wasn’t holding the pack of ice to take Percy’s hair out of his face. “It was very white knight of you.”

“Thanks and you’re welcome, I guess.” Percy said and they laughed. After they calmed they stared at each other for a while. Annabeth came closer to him without notice and he was lifting his arm to reach for her waist when they heard Piper shouting outside.

“Annie.” The last letter longer showing how absolutely drunk she was. “Let’s go home.”

Annabeth took a step back from Percy and let the pack of ice down.

“I think this will do. I hope your face is in place tomorrow.” She smiled and he followed.

“I think you did a great job.” He started getting off the table when Piper came running inside.

“Annabeth.” She shouted but stopped, seeing Percy. “The twins said you had someone inside with you.” She smiled and Annabeth blushed.

“That’s not what you’re thinking. Let’s go for a cab.” She turned to say goodbye but Percy said.

“I can drive you if you want.” Piper face got brighter, despite the drunkness.

“I’ll get Jason.” She left but soon came back. “And we lost Will and Nico, so yeah.” Once she was out for good Annabeth turned back to Percy.

“We can easily get a cab.” She said.

“And I can easily drive you.” He smiled. “Let me just say goodbye to my friends and I’ll meet you outside.

***

Their way to Piper and Annabeth’s was at least weird. The couple in the back kept kissing and touching while Percy and Annabeth only glanced at each other every once in a while, the blond just giving him directions.

“You can park near that tree.” She said. Piper and Jason quickly got out, waving goodbye and saying thanks.

“So, it was,” He looked for the words. “interesting.”

“I’m really sorry about them. Normally they manage to behave, but they drank a little too much today.” Annabeth said, looking to her hands. “Anyway, thank you very much for the ride.” She smiled.

“Anytime.” Percy said and Annabeth got out. She went to the stairs and saw that he was waiting for her to get inside.

“Would you like to sit here with me for a while?” Annabeth asked and he frowned, but got out of his car, coming to sit near her at the end of the stairs.

“Afraid of what you may find inside?” Percy asked.

“Not really.” She said. “We have a deal.” She began to explain. “When they get like this I always wait here until they turn some music on and I know it’s safe to come inside.” Percy laughed at that.

“Sounds like a good deal.” He said.

“Well, it works.” She replied and laughed with him.

“They seem like a nice couple.” Percy said and Annabeth nodded.

“The best I know.” She said and Percy ran his hand through his hair.

“Do you have, you know, someone?” Percy asked and Annabeth felt her face blush.

“I’m not really a relationship person you know?” She looked at him and asked. “Do you?”

Percy chuckled a little. “I tried once, it didn’t go very well.” He said, calmly. Annabeth nodded.

“So you just gave up on finding someone?” Annabeth asked before she could stop herself.

“Not really, I just never found someone worth trying with again. But I didn’t give up, I don’t really think people should ever give up on finding someone.” He glanced at Annabeth and she turned to him. “Don’t you agree?” He asked and came closer to her. Annabeth waited to see what he would do, but they soon heard Adele playing inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So guys, I'd like to dedicate this chapter to some people:  
> \- My friend, prettier than you, for creating the sentence about morallity (you're the woman of my life)  
> \- My Portuguese professor, one of the best I had in college, who did something like what Percy did on the first day of class.  
> \- And my mor, because he actually read what I asked him to read even thought he'd not into fanfic. I miss you, a lot.  
> Another thing: I know Mr. D is very OOC, but I decided to make an homage rather than to actually use the character.  
> I guess that's it. I hope you liked it!  
> Remember, every sort of commentary is welcome. Have a great week!! xxx.


	4. Je ne regret rien

Annabeth was having a very pleasant dream. She was in a beautiful palace, very bright, with big blue walls. She was at the entering hall, wearing a dark sleeveless red dress, with a rope working as a belt and a V neck that went farther than she would have liked. She was barefoot and her hair was loose, falling over her shoulder. Looking around she could see many corridors, a huge chandelier on the ceiling and in front of her a really long stair, leading to the second floor. She saw that there was no one near her so she went up.

When the girl arrived there she saw some big windows and looked out, realising she was underwater, for outside the palace she could see many fishes, mermaid people and even some bigger water animals, like sharks and a whale. Annabeth started to follow the windows, looking outside and when a shark came too close she got a little surprised and walked back by instinct, falling on a door behind her, opening it. Inside Annabeth found the biggest bathroom she had ever seen in her entire life and she had seen Aphrodite’s, Piper’s mom, bathroom. It was very foggy but she could distinguish very big mirrors covering it all. She looked around to see how far they would go and noticed a bathtub in the middle of the bathroom. She squeezed her eyes and saw that there was someone inside it. She tried to leave the bathroom but hit the door loudly, making the person on the bathtub look at her. She saw it was a man but couldn’t recognise him yet.

“You’re here.” The man said and smile. Annabeth didn’t need to hear the voice to know who the owner of that smile was. She saw Percy Jackson getting up from the tub and wrapping a towel around his waist. He started to walk toward her and she could do nothing but wait. When he got close enough Annabeth could finally see his beautiful sea-green eyes and his very wet black hair, dipping water on his face. She sighed when he stopped in front of her and Annabeth thought to herself she had never seen anyone so beautiful.

She came closer to him and touched his chest before she could stop herself. He had a very firm body, but it wasn’t overworked. He smiled again, eyes following her hand travelling down his body and came closer to her. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her to him. He pressed his left hand on the back of her neck and Annabeth lifted her head offering her mouth for a kiss. Percy slowly closed the distance between them and pressed their lips together. It started in an innocent way, Percy’s hand kindly pressing her waist and neck while Annabeth’s arms came to hug Percy’s shoulders. She used her arms to pull him even closer to her and they deepened their kiss. Mouths started to fight for control and soon Percy’s hand was on her thigh, pulling her dress up. Annabeth had to break the kiss to breath and moaned Percy’s name when the man started to suck her neck.

“Come take a shower with me.” He whispered on her ear and Annabeth woke up, listening to her ringtone.

***

Will thought he’d wake up with the worst headache of his life but, for his surprise, he was feeling great. It took him a while to understand the scene he was in. He felt a light breath on the back of his neck and tried to look behind him, but whoever it was, was hugging him close. He could only distinguish the black hair tickling his back when his mind shouted: ‘Nico’. Will almost jumped when he realised the boy he’d been crushing since they met on a party at Jason’s house a couple of months ago was laying on his bed, wrapped around him and, as far as Will could see, naked.

He laid back and tried to steady his breath. He decided to enjoy the moment for a while. Nico’s arm pressing him close, his breath on his neck and his feet slightly touching Will’s legs. Memories from the night before came rushing back to his mind. Their conversation, all the stupid things Will did and how Nico seemed to be getting more amused by it as the time passed and the alcohol gave in. He remembered agreeing to go to the dance floor with Nico, even when the song that was playing was horrible, just to be near the boy. He also remembered how Nico quickly threw him on the nearest wall as soon as they were far enough from their table. He could still feel Nico’s lips on his and how he thought he had the most incredible taste.

As the memories continued to come back, Will remembered how Nico pressed him on the wall and he just let the younger boy take control. They kissed each other hungrily and touched each other everywhere they could in front of other people. Will had said, between deep breaths while Nico sucked a hickey on his throat, that they should go to some place more private. He clearly recalled Nico’s joke about Will ‘trying to take advantage of an innocent boy’. He could also recall how he swallowed hard seeing Nico smirking at him and leaving the place. Will had considered tell someone they were leaving, but Piper and Jason were too busy with each other and he could swear he had seen Annabeth with Percy Jackson. So he did the only thing he thought possible and followed Nico.

Looking back, Will was almost sure they had behaved on the way to his apartment. Almost. He did remember a hand or another but nothing that would traumatize their driver. He paid him a little more just in case. Their way to his floor on the other hand wasn’t so prude. Now he was pretty sure the old lady that was unfortunate enough to be on the same elevator as them were probably going to sue him. But it wasn’t really his fault that she was there at 4 am or that Nico couldn’t keep his hand to himself. Will was actually a victim of the situation.

When they arrived at his apartment on the sixth floor Will realised that Nico was indeed holding himself. As soon as he opened the door the boy pinned him to the wall and started to kiss him again. He had just a second to remember to close the door with his foot before Nico start to work on his trousers. His breath was pathetically unsteady when the boy fell on his knees in front of him. Will could feel his face getting hotter and the bottom part of his body starting to call for attention while he remembered the best blowjob of his life.

After that, his memories were actually a little foggy. He could remember that once Nico was up again he licked his lips and started to walk toward the bedroom, losing his t-shirt on the way. Will had quickly took of his jeans and t-shirt as well and followed him. He felt his heart racing while remembering how Nico threw him in bed and rimmed him before getting on him. Yeah, Will remembered that well. He was quite used being a top, but the way Nico looked at him while asking if that was okay made him think he could be a bottom for the rest of his life, if it was with Nico di Angelo.

Nico suddenly moved behind him and Will thought he was waking up, but he just changed his position a little, freeing Will from his tight grip. The boy smiled as he looked down on the brunette on his bed. It took Will a while to realise that it was a little too creep, even for him, so he decided to get up and make breakfast. He glanced to the clock in his kitchen and frowned a little at the time. It was just 8 o’clock, but he wouldn’t be able to sleep again anyway.

He inspected his fridge and decided to follow Piper’s advice. ‘The best after sex breakfast is pancakes.’ He could clearly listen to her voice in his head. He smiled while thinking that he would have much fun telling the girls later about his night and hopefully his morning and a bit of his afternoon. He was still smiling when he saw Nico leaving the bedroom fully dressed.

“Hmm,” The boy started, looking very shy. “Good morning.”

“Good morning.” Will answered, feeling much more confident after their night together. “Last night was pretty great.” He gave Nico a huge smile but only got a short one in return.

“Yeah, it was.” Will frowned a little at Nico’s manners, but decided to let go.

“So, I’m doing pancakes.” He said and Nico stared at the floor.

“That’s very nice. But I have to go.” Will’s face fell a little and Nico completed. “Lot’s of stuff from college you know.” He tried to chuckle but Will didn’t buy it.

“Yeah, sure.” He turned his cooker off. “Did you get everything of yours?” He asked, not really looking at him.

“Yeah.” Nico answered, walking to the door. “So, I guess I’ll see you around.” He said like a question and Will only nodded. Nico opened the door himself when he realised Will was not coming for it. He quickly left without looking back. The blond was left alone with half a dozen pancakes and a pain on his chest. He quickly picked his mobile and dialled the number two of his speed dial.

“Will?” Annabeth asked. “Will it’s 8 am.” She said, her voice sleepy on the other end of the line.

“I know Annie, I know.” He said and his voice took even himself by surprise. “I’m sorry.”

“Will, what happened?” Annabeth asked, more alert now that she heard how he sounded. “Where are you?”

“I’m home.” He said and realised he was fighting his tears. “Nico left.” He let out a little cry and Annabeth started to get up and get her things together. “I was making pancakes.”

Annabeth could hear how Will was holding himself not to cry right away.

“We’ll be there in twenty minutes.” She said. They arrived in fifteen.

***

Piper was wrapped under Jason when she felt someone poking her face.

“Annie?” She asked, eyes still focussing on Annabeth near her. “Is everything okay? What time is it?”

“8. Now get up, we need to go to Will’s.” She answered and started to walk out of the room. “And no Jason.” She said and left. Piper grunted a little but got out of Jason’s grip, picked the first dress she saw in front of her and went to meet Annabeth.

“Is there a fire or anything?” She asked sleepy and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face.

“There was a fire alright. A fire called Nico di Angelo.” She said, angrily. Piper, on her I’m-still-sleeping state, didn’t get it.

“Nico huh?” She said, mouth full of toothpaste. “So they were together yesterday?” She smirked.

“They were. He even slept at Will’s.” Annabeth had everything together and was sitting on the couch waiting for Piper to get ready. “And today he left before the after-sex pancakes.”

Piper choked on the bathroom when she shouted a ‘What?’ and was soon ready to leave. “I’m going to kill him.” She said, picking Jason’s car keys and leaving with Annabeth close behind.

The ride to Will’s place was full of ‘How dare he?’, ‘You don’t break traditions’ and ‘Hasn’t Jason taught him anything?”. When they arrived they soon found a parking place and got to the apartment lobby. They went for the elevator and while waiting they could hear an old lady yelling with the doorman.

“They were practically eating each other in front of me.” Piper and Annabeth exchanged looks. “I need to take my walk because of my nerves and I only fell asleep for a while before the time I usually go and when I’m back I have to see that horrendous lack of respect for the elderly.” The elevator arrived and they soon got inside, listening to the lady telling the poor man how ‘the shorter one was almost ripping the not so adorable anymore blond boy from the sixth floor’s shirt.’

“Well, this may be worse than I thought.” Annabeth said and Piper nodded.

“I hope Will’s not watching Love Actually.”

***

Will was, indeed, watching Love Actually. Ever since he had dragged them both to the cinema to see the film for the first time when they were 14, because ‘Colin hot accent Firth’, the romcom had became Will’s comfort film. That’s how the girls knew he was too deep into something. And at that moment they could see the blond curled up on his couch, hugging his pillow written ‘family’s doctor’, a present from his aunt Artemis, and currently watching his favourite movie.

“I’ll get the popcorn.” Piper said and started to head to the kitchen.

“I’ll get the blanket.” Annabeth went for Will’s room.

Soon the three of them were together, Annabeth with Will’s head on her legs and Piper with his legs. “Did I miss Juliet’s wedding?” Piper asked unassumingly, dividing the popcorn.

“I think so. Sam’s already telling his dad about Joanna.” Annabeth went with it and Piper nodded. They stayed silently for a while until Will broke it.

“At least you didn’t miss Mark’s declaring his love. It’s your favourite part.” His voice was quietly, but he seemed to be calm. Piper ate a mouthful of popcorn.

“I’m not worried about that. I’d make you go back.” Will glanced at her and she continued. “Come on Will, you’re looking at the girl who watched almost two seasons of The Walking Dead over that guy, don’t challenge me.” Will scoffed at that and Piper smiled.

It took Will a while, but he eventually ended up participating on the small talk the girls were having through the film. In the end of the film they all sang ‘All I want for Christmas is  you’ and Will started cheering for Sam to get to Joanna and for Aurelia to accept Jamie’s proposal, even though he had seen the film a thousand times. When it ended he waited for the girls to start. Piper turned the TV off and Annabeth put their bowls on the centre table.

“So,” Piper started, leaning over Will’s body, resting her chin on his waist. “any thoughts you want to share?” She asked, using her tone that made anyone spill their secrets. Annabeth loved and feared that power of hers.

“We can always play ignoring the problem until it eventually goes away.” The blond girl smiled and Will grunted.

“I want to talk, but I don’t want to sound pathetic.” He said. “And this is coming from a guy who is currently laying over two girls.” He tried to smile but just grunted again. “Can we talk about something else for a while?” He asked and Annabeth started to think.

“We could try to find you a different comfortable film, because I love a British romantic comedy just as the next girl, but there’s a limit for everything.” Piper nodded, also deep in thought, recalling their night before when something stroke her.

“Wait a minute miss I’m-trying-to-avoid-an-embarrassing-situation.” Piper said, pointing at Annabeth’s face. “You were with Mr. Perfect Eyes yesterday. I caught you together on the storage.” Her tone was accusingly.

“Correction, you thought you caught us, but I was only helping Percy because he defended me from some jackass who tried to make a move on me.” Annabeth replied, pretending not to feel her heart racing on her chest.

“He did what?” Piper asked and even Will raised an eyebrow at the blond girl.

“I thought I had seen you two when I was, you know, leaving with, well, leaving.” Will said and hugged his pillow again, gesticulating for Annabeth to continue.

“After putting my feet on my mouth and saying something stupid to Percy,” She motioned to Piper to calm down and let go and the girl, who was already getting up from her seat, settled back on Will. “Then I just saw you and Jason swallowing each other and well, the rest disappeared,” She pointed at Will. “so I went to the dance floor and met this guy, whose name I didn’t even ask before you can make any joke about it.” Piper nodded and the girl continued. “Anyway, he tried to kiss me, I tried to leave and Percy tried to rescue me.” She said it dramatically.

“Tried?” Both of them asked in unison.

“Yeah, he kind of got punched and them I punched the guy, but you know, those things happen.” Annabeth said like it didn’t matter and her friends had their mouths opened in surprise.

“Well, that’s discouraging.” Piper said. “I thought he was like, awesome.” She looked at Will looking for support.

“Oh, but he is.” Annabeth said dreamily before she could stop herself. She looked in shock to the couple in front of her just to see Will’s ‘you’re-doomed’ face and Piper’s big grin.

“And what happened after that?” She sang, pretty much laying completely on Will now.

“Nothing.” Annabeth answered and saw her friends exchange looks of disbelief.

“Sure.” They said together again and stared at the blond. Annabeth rolled her eyes and gave up.

“Fine.” She sighed and continued. “He may have tried to kiss me once.” She said and they kept staring at her. “Or twice. But it wasn't the universe's will.” She shook her arms. “You’re happy now?”

“Of course not. You’re clearly not telling everything.” Piper said and Will nodded in agreement.

“Nothing else happened. We just talked. I swear.”

“Is that it?” Piper tilted her head. “Then why are you blushing?”

“I am?” Annabeth asked in surprise, touching her face and feeling it hot. “Maybe it’s because I’m being questioned by the girl who drank her weight in alcohol and the boy who is hugging a goddamn pillow for the last four hours.” Annabeth said irritated.

“Anger is a great way to defend your point Annie.” Will said, sarcastically. “Also ouch.” He hugged his pillow harder.

“Was this really necessary?” Piper pointed at Will. “You’re the one hooking up with the professor Babygirl.”

“I was not, I’m not. I.” Annabeth grunted in frustration. “Fine. I dreamed about him okay. That’s what happened. He was a perfect gentleman yesterday and I fell asleep thinking about him. And I dreamed that he was pinning me against a bathroom wall.” Annabeth sighed and hid her face on her hands. When she lifted her head she regret it as soon as she saw the grin on Piper’s face.

“You know what that means?”

“I don’t care about your theories Pipes.” Annabeth tried but Will was raising his arm.

“Pick me, pick me. I know.”

“William?” Piper pointed at Will.

“It means you’re in love.” Will said the word love longer, blinking exaggeratedly.

“When did we forget about your broken heart and decided to talk about my stupid dreams?” Annabeth asked Will but the boy just shrugged. “I only saw the guy like, two classes. Stop forcing your concept of romance on me.” Annabeth crossed her arm over her chest and turned to the TV.

They stayed in silence for a while, Annabeth and Piper giving glances at each other every once in a while. Will took a deep breath and decided to end it.

“So,” He started and got both girls in surprise, making them look at him. “Nico’s a top.” He said and hid his face on his pillow. They just stared at the boy curling up on himself.

“You mean he, I mean you, I mean him.” Piper got lost at her own words and just gave up, leaning back on the couch.

“I think what my friend without personal borders here is trying to say is that we always assumed you were a top.” Annabeth explained and Will chuckled a little.

“I am, most of the time. But yesterday things just flowed you know?” He sighed but looked up. “I actually thought to myself that if it was for Nico I’d bottom for the rest of my life.” Will tried to laugh but the girls knew he was about to cry.

“You know what we should do?” Piper asked, getting back to her normal state.

“Hire a hitman to take Nico down?” Annabeth suggested.

“Not yet. Jason would know it were us.” She answered. “We should watch ‘Will and Grace’ or ‘Sex in the city’.” Piper smiled and Will snorted.

“Pipes, seriously? I had my heart broken and the best you can come up with is the two most stereotypical gay shows to ever be created?”

“Oh come on, it’s not like she’s suggesting ‘Queer as folk’ Sunny Boy.” Annabeth said and then realised she was defending Piper. She looked to her friend and saw an apology smile. She mirrored that and they got their attention back to Will. “What do you want? Playboy house? Monster truck?”

“Looking at it again I could do some ‘Will and Grace’.” Will smiled and Piper went to look for the computer. The rest of the day was spent lazily watching television. The blond boy would every now and then give some information about the night before, sometimes giving too many details, getting ‘gross’ from Annabeth and ‘damn that’s hot’ from Piper.

Eventually Will got them both out of his house with the excuse of studying. On the ride home they decided Will would survive but they would still kill Nico di Angelo, what, after arriving at their place, proved to be easier than planned.

***

Jason woke up to find Piper’s side of the bed empty. He got up and got dressed to find his girlfriend but the apartment was also empty and he couldn’t find his car keys. He decided to wait for her to came back and went for his computer to get some work done before he found himself drowning on college stuff. He spent quite some time on it, getting up every once in a while to eat something. When it was about 4 in the afternoon he felt his phone vibrating and saw a text from Nico.

**You’re at Piper’s?**

Jason quickly texted back.

**Is she or Annabeth there?**

Jason thought the question was weird, but answered it anyway.

**I’m outside. Can you open the door?**

The blond rushed to the door. Nico never did that, something was up and Jason’s fraternal senses were activated. He opened the door to find a shyly looking Nico, staring at his feet.

“I think I did something stupid.”

Jason stared at his cousin and then wrapped him in a one arm hug.

“Luck for you I’m an expert at stupid things.” He smiled and Nico chuckled.

“Sure you are. You’re everybody’s golden boy.” Jason gave Nico a fake offended look.

“Now you’re just throwing random rocks. Does this have anything to do with running away with Solace last night?” Jason asked as they reached the couch.

“Maybe.” Nico answered, hiding his face on his hands and grunting.

“Will I have to kill someone?” Jason asked and Nico snorted.

“After you talk to your girlfriend,” Nico looked at Jason. “probably me.”

Jason rolled his eyes and gave a pillow for Nico to hold. The boy held it for dear life. “Family first Nico.” He said calmly.

“I thought she was your family too.”

“She is.” Jason smiled. “But Will’s still on the friend area. So don’t worry. I got your back.” Nico smiled shortly at Jason and then buried his face on his pillow. “Now would you care to explain to me what happened?”

Nico did and for Jason’s relief with far less details than Will. The blond paid close attention but let Nico finish before saying anything.

“And why did you ran away from the pancakes man?” He asked. “Do you have a death wish or something? Piper will kill you.” Jason was trying to lighted the mood, but Nico just grunted.

“He was, adorable.” He said after a while and Jason sighed. He knew exactly what this was about. “He is probably the best guy I’ve ever been with and,” Nico rubbed one hand through his face and hair. “Why I keep doing this Jay?” He looked hopelessly at Jason.

“We both know why Nico.” Jason said, leaning on the couch. “You should try to give yourself a break kiddo.” Nico just sighed and was about to answer him when they heard a key on the door. “Damnit, that’s Piper. Hide.” He told Nico and started to push him toward the bedroom.

“What? Why?” Nico asked confused.

“She’s probably coming from Will’s. She’ll try to kill you. You broke tradition.” He shoved him back and closed the door just in time to see the girls entering the house. Piper eyed him. They started to come closer to Jason, who kept guard in front of the door.

“Jason Grace, I hope for your own sake that the person you’re so poorly hiding on that room is some skinny bitch you’re cheating on me with because if it’s who I think it is I’m going to kill him.” Piper threw her purse on the couch and went for the door. Annabeth quickly held her by the waist.

“Pipes, calm down.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down Annie. And Jason let that brat out or I’ll taste your blood instead.” Piper pointed angrily at the door but Jason didn’t move.

“Let me explain Pipes. Nico,” Jason started but the boy pushed the door open. “Nico?” Jason almost wasn’t quickly enough to put himself between his cousin and his girlfriend. The four of them got stuck into a small wrestling until Annabeth managed to get a hold of Piper.

“Annie let me go.” Piper hissed and Annabeth ignored.

“Nico,” The blond girl asked. “what happened?”

“I, I got,” Nico started and headed for the door. “I’m sorry.” He opened it and left.

“And he’s a coward.” Piper waved her arm at him, after Annabeth freed her. Jason quickly glanced at her.

“I’ll explain what happened after I check if he’s ok. After you have the facts, you make your conclusion about him. Until there, don’t call my cousin a coward.”

“Jay.” Piper said, regretting her behaviour but Jason just left after Nico.

***

Piper was sitting on the couch watching some stupid TV show at 2 am when Annabeth when to check on her.

“Nothing yet?” She asked and the girl just shook her head, a tear falling from her eye. “Hey, don’t be like that Pipes, you guys were just defending the people you love. Jason knows that.” Annabeth sat by Piper’s side and pulled her to her chest, kissing the top of her head. “Why don’t you go to bed? It’s late.” She tried and Piper shrugged.

“I tried. I guess I can’t sleep on my own anymore.” She chuckled a little but it became a sob.

“You can sleep with me.” Annabeth suggested and Piper leaned on her in response. They didn’t get much sleep on that night, but Piper calmed down feeling Annabeth by her side.

On the morning, for the first time on the semester, they arrived on time at college, having to take the subway since Jason disappeared. Annabeth checked to see if Piper was ok for the hundredth time on that morning and went for her class.

It was no surprise for her to find Will’s and Percy’s seats empty. She put her things by her side just in case. Glancing around class her eyes met Nico’s and she gave him a weak smile. She rested her head on her forearms over the table and waited for the professor. It took Percy 20 minutes to arrive, bringing his amount of giggling and sighs with him.

“I won’t even say anything today.” He smiled and looked at Annabeth, but he frowned as soon as he saw her face. She also gave him a weak smile and he went on with the class, every once in a while checking Annabeth from the corner of his eyes. “So, have you guys heard of Tales of Miletus?”

***

Annabeth was sure that if a meteor had fallen in the middle of the classroom she would not have noticed. That’s the reason why she jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Annabeth?” Percy asked, his eyes full of worry. “What happened?”

The girl sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She felt her face blush, noticing how close Percy was and remembering her dream from the night before. She looked around the class and noticed everybody had left, except for Nico, who was staring at their interaction. She stared at him while answering Percy.

“Regrets, mostly.” He turned to Percy. “I’m sorry to be a little off today, yesterday was” She thought about it for a while. “rough.” She heard Nico getting up and followed him with her eyes until he was out of the classroom.

“Does he has anything to do with the roughness?” Percy asked, sitting on the chair in front of her.

“You could say that.” She smiled weakly at him again and saw Percy trying to reach for her hand but soon pulling his own back.

“If you, you know, need to talk, or something,” Percy blushed a little. “You can always you know, come to me.” He pointed to his office. “My door will be open.” He smiled at her shyly and she reached for his shoulder, squeezing it a little. Percy looked at her in surprise but she soon got up.

“Thank you Mr. Jackson.” Her smile was bigger now and he smiled back.

“I thought we had agreed on Percy Annabeth.”

She let out a short laugh as a response and left the room, glancing at him from the door.

As soon as she was out of the classroom she felt her phone vibrate.

“Honey,” She said, answering it. “are you guys the most perfect couple again?”

“Not yet. Have you seen Piper?” Jason asked. “I can’t find her anywhere.” Annabeth frowned at that.

“We came to college together. She must be in class.” Annabeth looked around and saw Nico sitting in a bench nearby with Piper by his side. The blond girl started to walk toward them to try and stop a disaster. “You know what? I’ll try to find her a give you a call.” Annabeth hung up before Jason could answer.

As she was getting closer to them she calmed a little down, seeing they seemed to be just talking as two normal human beings. When she got close enough she could hear Piper apologising.

“So, that’s it. I overreacted and I’m sorry. But Nico, you don’t skip the goddamn pancakes.” Annabeth felt like that was her time to interfere.

“Okay guys, great. We’re all friends again.” She put a hand firmly on Piper’s shoulder. “Now shake hands.” They stared at her. “I said, shake hands.” Annabeth said it tougher and they quickly obeyed. “Great. Now you,” She pointed at Piper. “go find your boyfriend. And you,” She pointed at Nico. “actually I don’t know what you should do. Well, I don’t really care, just behave.” She smiled and waited for them to get up and go their ways. “I’m really good at this.” Annabeth smiled to herself and went to grab lunch and wander around town until it was safe to go home.

***

Piper reached for her phone just to see its battery was over. She headed home to charge it and call Jason, but when she arrived her boyfriend was already there.

“Pipes?” Jason asked, getting up from bedroom and going for the door.

“Hey.” Piper smiled shyly as she looked at him.

“Hey.” Jason replied and smiled too. “I’ve been looking for you.”

“My phone’s dead.” She waved her mobile to show Jason her point. “And I was talking to Nico.” She had her arms on her back, smoothly rubbing her wrist.

“You were?” Jason asked carefully, coming closer to her.

“I was apologising.” She said and looked up to face Jason. “For overreacting.” He only nodded and Piper got a little nervous. “Jay, look, I, I’m sorry. I was just, I tried.” She didn’t finish her sentence because Jason came running to her. He quickly cupped her face with his hands and kissed her. It took Piper by surprise but she was soon into it too, hugging Jason’s waist. They lost themselves on their kiss a little, but Jason broke it to stare at Piper’s eyes.

“I freaking love you, you silly overprotective beauty queen.” He smiled and Piper pouted.

“You know I don’t like when people call me that.” He gave Piper small pecks until she was laughing on his arms.

“But you don’t care when it’s me.” She raised an eyebrow at him.

“And what makes you think that?” She asked and Jason pulled her closer, lifting Piper so she could wrap her legs around him. He started to take them to Piper’s bedroom and said while kissing her neck.

“Because you freaking love me too.” He gently let Piper fall on the bed. Jason started to kiss her from her belly to her face, listening to Piper’s small giggles. He kissed her chin and stared at her. The girl wrapped her hands on his neck, pulling him in for a deeper kiss. When they broke for air she whispered on his ear.

“Yes, I freaking do.”

***

Annabeth had lunch at the college cafeteria alone. She thought about calling Will, but knew he was probably needing some space now. She was about to leave and go to the library or something when she heard someone shouting her name. She turned and saw Silena Beauregard waving for her. She stopped and waited for the girl. Silena was an arts student and they had had cinema classes together. They weren’t really close, but Annabeth really liked the girl.

“Annabeth Chase, I looked everywhere for you.” She said when she got close enough.

“You did?” Annabeth asked confused.

“Sure. I need to give you something.” She reached for her purse and started to look for something. Annabeth could swear Silena had a world inside her purse. She started to think about a subject to talk about while they waited.

“So,” Annabeth said. “Your hair is brown now.” The girl looked up for a while and smiled. Then headed back to her task.

“Got tired of black.” She said. “Aha.” Silena took a piece of paper from her bag. “Here.” Annabeth frowned but got it anyway.

“What’s this?” She asked, inspecting the paper.

“Free ticket for the Woody Allen marathon happening on Medusas’ cinema downtown.” She smiled again and Annabeth almost kissed her.

“And you’re giving this to me?” She asked, barely holding her excitement.

“Of course. You love the guy and I can’t be there. Charlie has to study for a test and I don’t like to go to the cinema without him.” Annabeth smiled. Silena and Charlie Beckendorf were one of the most adorable and unexpected couples she had ever met. She couldn’t hold herself and hugged Silena, kissing her on the cheek.

“Girl, you’re awesome.” Silena smiled again. “I can go at anytime?” She asked.

“I think so. If I’m not mistaken today is ‘Midnight in Paris’.” Annabeth lost her breath a little bit.

“Do you have any idea how much I love this movie?” Silena rolled her eyes playfully.

“As if I wouldn’t remember our first project together when you was almost literally fighting that poor boy, what’s his name? Oh yeah, Butch, to get that movie.”

“The weak will perish my dear.” Annabeth said. “And I better go before I lose the session. Thank you very much.”

“Anything for a friend.” Silena said and walked away, Annabeth stared at her ticket a little and went to the nearest subway station.

It took Annabeth half an hour to get there. She soon went to the cinema and found out she had almost two hours to spare. Annabeth sighed, she didn’t know that area very well, but decided to go on an adventure. She started to walk on the streets nearby and found an old café. She looked inside and pretty much fell in love with the place. It was very small, but the decoration was antique, with a lot of black and white photos on the walls. Annabeth was about to enter it when a very known voice spoke behind her.

“Miss Chase?” She turned to face Percy Jackson.

“This whole Mr. and miss thing is getting out of hand Percy.” He smiled at her and ran a hand through his hair. Annabeth bit her bottom lip before she could stop herself. She quickly snapped herself out of it. “You’re coming inside?” She asked, pointing to the café.

“Yes, I was. I love this place. It’s great to prepare my classes. You?”

“Me too. I had some time to kill and found this place and well, I fell in love.” He chuckled at that.

“Would you like to join me for coffee miss Chase?” He asked, offering his arm. She smiled at that and accepted it.

“Why Mr. Jackson, I just might.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, as I'm dedicating my chapters now, this one goes to the bookmarks and kudos I got so far, my two readers who always comment the chapters, extreme_fangirl and xxaugustasxx and of course my new fanfic friend, bibinharamos. You make my day and I hope you are enjoying reading it. xx.  
> Ps. Just an explanation. They all pretty much have each other's house keys, so that's it. Bye.


	5. They're having make up... pancakes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well guys, thanks again for reaching this far. I loved writing this chapter and I hope you guys like reading it too. Also, we have a little of Percy's pov, enjoy!!

It took Annabeth exactly a minute and a half to forget she was sitting in a café with her professor. She and Percy talked about everything, from politics to cartoons they used to watch when they were kids.

“I’ll pretend you didn’t just say that.” Annabeth said, taking a sip of her coffee.

“But he is the best saint, you have to admit.” Percy replied, laughing loudly.

“The only thing he does is whine and be arrogant. Ikki is the best one.”

“So you’re telling me you’re attracted to the bad boy cliché?” Percy asked and they burst out laughing.

“Some clichés are pretty good you know?” She smiled and Percy nodded. They stared at each other for a while and Annabeth took another sip of her drink to break it. She glanced at her watch and her eyes got wilder. “Damn it. I have to go.” She started to get up and Percy smiled.

“Giving up so easily Miss Chase?” Annabeth flipped her hair and looked at him.

“I actually have an appointment with Mr. Owen Wilson, but if it wasn’t for that, you’d be out of here crying.”

“Then we should totally rearrange that.” He finished his coffee and frowned. “What do you mean by Owen Wilson?” Annabeth laughed and picked up her purse. She started to walk toward the cashier when she saw Percy following her.

“I got a ticket for a movie session. Have you seen Midnight in Paris?” She asked, standing in a three people line, looking over her shoulder to talk to Percy.

“I don’t think so.” He answered, thoughtfully. “Who’s it from?”

“Woody Allen.”

“Ah, that’s why. I’m not really a fan of his work.” Annabeth’s eyes shot open.

“How can somebody not be a fan of his work?” It was their time to pay and Percy tried to go before Annabeth, so he would pay for them both, but the girl gently shoved his arm away, giving her part of the bill. They left and he started to walk with her.

“I never did actually, not sure why. Is the cinema this way?” He asked, pointing the street ahead of them and Annabeth nodded.

“Medusa’s cinema.” She said and then turned to him. “Wait, didn’t you say you like to do your classes on that café?”

“I do. But I thought it would be nice to walk a little.” He said. “Not to mention the company is not terrible.” He smiled and Annabeth rolled her eyes playfully.

“Somewhat bearable.” They laughed again and Percy said after a while.

“You seem to be in a better mood. Did things get better?” Annabeth took a deep breath and turned to him when they stopped at a red light.

“Not really. Piper and Jason also got into a fight so things are complicated. But thanks for caring.” She smiled and he smiled back.

“I understand. My friend Groover, the one I was with at the club that day, used to get into fights with Juniper every day. I always had to be their bridge until they got back together and then fight again. College days weren’t easy.” Annabeth laughed at that.

“And how did they stop fighting?” She asked curiously as they crossed the street.

“He proposed.” He said unassumingly and Annabeth frowned.

“And it worked?”

“It did, impressively. After that the only fight they got into was quite recently, about the baby’s room colour.” He smiled, a little lost in thought. “I told them the best colour would always be blue, boy or girl, so they did the exactly opposite to it and painted it light green, because Juniper has some issues with green.” He said it like he was personally offended but blue’s rejection.

“Sure, _Juniper_ has issues.” Annabeth said it almost to herself.

“What?” Percy asked and the girl smiled at him, noticing how adorable he seemed. She quickly took her mind out of it, feeling as if little hearts were flowing through her eyes.

“Nothing.” She said. After that, they kept walking while Percy listed all the reasons why blue was the ideal colour for a bedroom. Annabeth on the other hand was trying to stop said hearts to surround them. She was almost relieved when they reached the cinema entrance, but that meant Percy would leave. She thought about it for a second while Percy kept gesticulating and interrupted him.

“Would you like to see the movie with me?” She asked, not really caring about blue anymore. Percy seemed a little surprised to be taken from his lecture, but answered quickly.

“Yes.”

***

Percy was trying his best to pay attention on the movie. He really was. But every once in a while he couldn’t resist glancing at Annabeth. He was feeling like a 15 year old boy going on his first date. He could smell the perfume she used, a smell that Percy was getting a bit addicted to. Every time a famous person from the past appeared on screen Percy saw Annabeth’s eyes getting wilder and she would turn to him to give some fun fact.

“Did you know Fitzgerald wrote his first novel when he was 13? Did yoy know Hemingway was on two plane crashes before he died? Did you know that  Dalí said 'only after you've perfected the techniques of the masters can you develop your own style’?”

She was so into the movie that Percy said nothing to the information. Every time he would just smile at her and hear her talking. When the credits rolled, Annabeth leaned on the cinema chair and let out a sigh of satisfaction. The lights turned on and the people on the room started to leave. Percy was watching her close when she turned to him.

“So, did you like?” She asked, an easy smile on her face. Percy had to concentrate a little to answer her, gasping on his words.

“I was a little lost actually.” ‘Nothing to do with the fact that you were by my side.’ He thought.

“Well, it helps if you watch it again.”

“Is it an invitation?” Percy asked, completely forgetting he was talking with a student. When he saw Annabeth’s surprised look he tried to walk around it. “I mean, I saw a poster outside that said it was a Woody Allen marathon.” He could notice how Annabeth was having too much fun with the mess he fell into. “So maybe it will be on again?” He had a hopeless face on and Annabeth took pity on him.

“Yeah, maybe. I’ll let you know if it’s on again. But it’s a lot of interest for someone who isn’t a fan.” She smiled teasingly and Percy relaxed a little.

“It was pretty nice.”

“Because of the not horrible company?” Annabeth leaned further on the chair.

“Somewhat bearable.”

“Sir?” A voice spoke above them after they started to stare at each other again, making they both look up in surprise. “Miss?” I’ll have to ask you to leave. The next session will start soon.” They nodded and said sorry. The young man that talked to them left and they were soon up.

“Where did he come from?” Annabeth asked, honestly impressed by not seeing the man approaching them.

“Out of nowhere.” They were still laughing when they left the cinema.

“So Miss Chase, where to now?” Percy asked, smiling at Annabeth, who rolled her eyes.

“Well, as I don’t think it’s safe to go home yet, probably some place with food.”

“Not safe? Is everything okay?” Percy asked, genuinely concerned.

“Just Piper and Jason having make-up,” She stopped herself and thought about an euphemism. “pancakes.” She blushed a little and Percy laughed.

“Well, if you’re still up for the somewhat bearable company I now a nice pizza place not far from here.”

“I’m a though girl, I’ll probably survive.”

***

Piper was kissing the way from Jason’s chest to his belly when he spoke up.

“Babe, I’m a bit hungry.” When the girl looked up in confusion he explained. “We’ve been in here for a while.” He smiled apologetic. Piper snorted, taking some hair out of her face and Jason’s stomach made a sound. She rolled her eyes.

“Fine, but you have 15 minutes.” He smiled and pulled her into a kiss. He left her on the bed and kissed her forehead. “You’re the best.”

“At least put some pants on, Annie will kill both of us if she finds you like this.” Piper shouted to Jason when he headed to the kitchen.

“Can’t. The clock is ticking.” He said, making Piper laugh while falling on the bed. She hugged her pillow, feeling a little tired. She could hear Jason making a mess on the kitchen, but decided to deal with it only if something was on fire. About ten minutes later her boyfriend came back with a couple of grilled cheeses.

“Babe, did you make all that noise just to make sandwiches?” Piper asked amused.

“No. The first attempt failed, so I had to improvise.” He gave her plate and she looked at it with suspicion.

“If I eat this, will I die?” She asked and Jason rolled his eyes.

“I do hope not, after this, I’m in for round,” He stopped to count but couldn’t remember. “Anyway, I’m in for the next round.” Piper just shook her head and smiled, sniffing her sandwich before taking a bite. She hummed approvingly.

“It’s not as bad as the ones you used to make Jay. Congrats.” Jason smiled and kissed her cheek. They ended eating and Jason took their plates to the kitchen. When he got back, he laid on top of Piper and started kissing her. The girl smiled and kissed him back. They started making-out lazily but soon hands were smoothly running through their bodies. Piper held a tight grip on Jason’s arms as the blond started to kiss her neck, slowly heading down on her. He gently kissed her breasts and then her belly. When he was further enough he gave her a wicked grin and covered his head with a blanket. The girl just had a second do roll her eyes before she became a moaning mess on the bed.

***

Will regretted all his life’s choices when he woke up long after noon. He quickly checked his bedside clock and rubbed both his hands on his face. It wasn’t even a month since classes had started and he already had let a lot of work built up. He blamed it on Nico di Angelo. Thinking about the boy made Will’s chest hurt again and he instinctively reached for the empty space on his right. He sighed and quickly retrieved his hand. Deciding that let himself drown on his own sorrow would make him no good, Will got up.

It was odd for him to think about everything that had happened on the day before. He had woken up feeling the luckiest guy on the face of the Earth and then had that feeling ripped off of him. He made some coffee and sat by the kitchen’s counter. He still could feel chills every time he remembered Nico’s hands on his body or his mouth on him. He felt his face burn when he glanced at the door and remembered Nico on his knees in front of him. He quickly shoved the memory away before he had problems. Will took his time to finish his coffee and decided to take a shower to feel better.

It didn’t work.

Will found himself running away from his problems but it didn’t feel good. Every once in a while he would pass by the pile of texts he had to read for the week and ignored them. He sat by his TV watching meaningless shows until he couldn’t take it anymore. He changed and left his house, not really sure where he was going. He walked for a while until he sat by a park’s bench. He observed the people there, the couples, the children and the animals. After some time he started to feel better.

“I just needed some fresh air.” He said to himself, leaning on the bench and closing his eyes.

“Are you one of those lunatics that go to parks and talk to themselves?” Will jumped a little and looked at the man in front of him. “I do hope not, because you’re really cute.” The man smiled and offered his hands for a shake. Will took it and gave a good look on the boy in front of him. He had short blond hair and bright blue eyes. Will raised an eyebrow in surprise and smile.

“Asks the one approaching strangers in said park.” Will’s smile got wilder when he saw him blushing. “But I can assure you I’m just a normal guy.” Will pointed to his side so the blond would sit. When he did, Will finished. “I’m Will, by the way.”  

“Octavian.” They smiled to each other again and started to observe the crowd in front of them. Will smiled every time he got Octavian checking him out. ‘Yeah, still got it’. He though to himself.

“So,” Octavian started, slightly getting closer. “I think I’ve seen you around college.” He turned to Will, waiting for him to reply.

“Yeah? I’m a medicine student. You?” The boy got a surprise look on his face.

“I study medicine too. Which year are you in?”

“Fifth. I’m almost out. You?”

“I’m on the first year actually. I’ve just started it.” He smiled to Will and he managed to see how young the boy was.

“How old are you?”

“Just turned 18. Why? You got a problem with that?” Octavian was giving Will meaningful looks and Will just raised an eyebrow to him and laughed.

“Just my luck.” He turned back to the crowd and Octavian followed.

“You don’t seem very old.”

“I’m not. I’m 23.” He smirked from the corner of his mouth and gave Octavian a look. “Why? Got a problem with that?”

***

After a while of teasing each other with innuendos, Will asked Octavian if he wanted to go for a coffee. He had to eventually take Nico di Angelo out of his mind, so it was better to start sooner than later. And that Octavian wasn’t half bad looking and was nice to talk to. Not to mention he was British and had beautiful eyes.

They ate and talked for a while until Octavian asked him if he wanted to go to a shop with him. Will said yes without asking why. Five minutes later they were entering the nerdiest shop Will had ever seen, and it meant a lot coming from him who had his Spider-man poster signed by Stan Lee on a frame. When he looked up he could see a huge reproduction of Smaug from ‘The Hobbit’ hanging from the ceiling and what seemed to be thousands of shelves filled with hqs. He was so lost in it he barely heard Octavian saying he would be back soon. He slightly nodded as he followed the many halls, looking for his favourite authors. By the time he found an enormous shelf dedicated only to Batman he almost cried. He started to look like crazy for everything he ever wanted. He kept following the shelf until he came close to two people talking. As soon as he heard the short one’s voice he froze.

“Do you have a prediction?”

“I’m sorry sir. But the Hades figures are the hardest to find and I think the only way to get one now is to buy it from a collector.”

Will quickly looked at them just to make sure his mind wasn’t playing games with him. He saw the boy in front of him nodding sadly and wanted very much to go there and wrap his arms around Nico di Angelo. But when he turned, Will almost fell trying to hide behind the shelf.

“Will?” Nico asked and then said a quick thanks to the man that was helping him. He found a Will Solace putting the action figures he had dropped back in place. Will took a deep breath and remembered the pain in his chest when Nico left him the night before. He turned to him, a hard look on his face.

“Hey.” He said, unassumingly. Nico stared a little at his shoes, rubbing his arm slightly.

“Hey.” He looked up a little and Will could see him blushing. “How are you?” He asked quietly.

“Good. You?”

“Fine, yeah.” They stayed in an uncomfortable silence for a while until Nico start saying. “I actually wanted to talk,” He couldn’t finish his sentence because Octavian was soon by Will’s side.

“Man you won’t believe in what I just found.” He put his arm around Will and then looked at Nico. “Hi, you are?” He had an arrogant tone on his voice that made Nico quickly pick his stuff up.

“Leaving.” He said, looking once more to Will before exiting the shop.

“Let me guess,” Octavian said, seeing Will’s eyes following Nico. “he’s the reason you’re so worried about age?”

“You could say that.”

***

Piper unintentionally kicked Jason’s back when Will suddenly appeared on their door shouting if anyone was home. They barely had time to cover themselves before Will arrived blushing and breathless in front of them. Seeing what they were up to he quickly covered his eyes.

“Sorry, so sorry.” He started to bubble.  

“Will.” Piper yelled. “What the hell are you doing here?” She asked angrily.

“Don’t yell at me. Yell at your goddamn boyfriend and his stupid family for making my head a huge mess.” Will was gesticulating his right hand widely while the left one covered his eyes. Piper stopped a little and turned to Jason who just shrugged.

“What that little brat did?” She asked, reaching to close Jason’s mouth with her hand.

“I’ll tell you what he did. He ruined my life.” Will hit hard on his chest to prove his point.

“I’m not really good at this whole one-night stand thing because,” Jason pointed to Piper. “but I’m pretty sure they’re not supposed to ruin your life.”

“Shut up Jason.” They said in unison.

“Piper.” Jason said, offended.

“Sorry. Shut up babe.” She said sweetly and kissed him. Jason rolled his eyes and got up.

“You know what? I’m going to take a shower while you two say bad things about my family.”

“You’re good.” Piper said after Jason closed the bathroom door. Will took his hand out of his eyes and came to sit on an armchair near Piper’s bed. The girl patted a place by her side but Will shook his head.

“No way I’m sitting there after I caught you two, you know.” Piper rolled her eyes and snorted a lock of hair out of her face.

“So, what did the boy wonder did this time?” She asked and Will was about to speak when he hid his face on his hands and grunted. “What?” Piper asked worried.

“Why would you say that?” Will whined and Piper looked confused.

“I have no idea what are you talking about.” She said and came a little bit closer to Will, or as far as she could wearing her blankets.

“Boy wonder. Now I’m going to imagine Nico on Dick’s costume and it won’t do any good for my sanity.” He gave Piper a hopeless look. “Oh god Nightwing is even worse.” Piper got up.

“Okay, this has to end.” She let go of her blanket and started to fish for pyjamas. Will quickly put both hands over his eyes and Piper sighed.

“Will, we’ve seen each other naked countless times. Not to mention you’re gay. Like, hella. Quit closing your eyes, I’m a piece of art. It’s worth looking.” Will took his hands off just to stare in disbelief at her. She laughed and dressed the first one she found. Reaching for Will’s hand she said: “Come on Sunny Boy, I think we have some ice cream left.”

***

“So, do you like margherita?” Percy asked Annabeth, carefully analysing his menu.

“Hm, I don’t really have a favourite one. It’s up to you.” She smiled and put her menu down to let Percy chose. “Surprise me.” He raised an eyebrow to her and smirked lifting his arm to call the waiter.

“Ferdinand, I’ll want the special, medium and a can of coke. Annabeth?”

“Orange juice please.” She smiled and Ferdinand smiled back. He nodded after getting their orders and said it would be quick. “So,” Annabeth asked after they were alone again. “you know the owners or something?”

“It belongs to Grover’s family. He even studied administration so he can run this place when Ferdinand, his uncle, and his father retire.” Annabeth hummed in response and started to look around him. The place wasn’t really big, but had a lovely aspect.

“It’s really nice here.” Her eyes found a set of photographs on the wall and she started to laugh. “I particularly like that one.” She pointed to a photo of a young Percy with a ginger boy Annabeth deduced was Grover, getting knocked out by a fish that managed to escape their captured as soon as the photo was taken. The result? Two teenagers with very funny looks on their faces and a majestic fish flying to freedom.

“That was not our best moment, I’ll admit. But dad insisted this photo was important, so,yeah.” Percy waved his hands, pretending he didn’t care, but Annabeth could see him blushing.

“You guys were fishing?” She tried and Percy seemed to be really happy by the change of subject.

“Every summer. Dad’s a sailor, so I didn’t see him very often during school time, but as soon as classes were over I’d run to him.” Annabeth thought to herself how cute Percy looked, smiling to himself at the memories of his time with his dad.

“Your parents are divorced?” She asked carefully, not sure if it was an approachable subject.

“They never got married, actually. They had an affair and were in love for a while, but they weren’t together anymore when I was born. Yet, dad always says how mom’s the most wonderful woman he have ever met.” He smiled and Annabeth could fell those damn hearts on her eyes again.

“So they get on well?”

“Yes. Dad really likes to watch sports with mom’s husband, Paul. They always think the other doesn’t know what’s happening and frankly, none of them do.” They laughed and Percy asked Annabeth. “What about your family? Any dirt secrets?”

“Not much. My mother’s a professor and when she got a chance to go to England she packed everything and forgot her daughter. So I lived with dad,  his wife and my twin brothers, Bob and Matt.” Annabeth saw Percy staring at her worried, so she smiled. She was used to tell the tale of the lonely girl who didn’t belong with her family. It didn’t bother her, but somehow, seeing the way her professor was looking at her, like he wanted to wrap a blanket around her, made she wanted to show him it wasn’t a big deal. “And I have a cousin, Magnus, I haven’t seen him in a while because our fathers don’t talk anymore duo to some stupid Christmas argument, but we pretty much like siblings.”

“I have a brother too, Tyson. He’s actually only my father’s son, so  don’t I see him often either, but we talk pretty much every day.” Percy stared at her a little, checking if everything was okay and Annabeth smiled.

“You don’t have to worry about my family problems Mr. Jackson.”

“I’m not. It’s just that family’s important you know? People shouldn’t just abandon each other.”

“Indeed, but some people do and I already got used to it. Not to mention dad’s pretty great, he just doesn’t know what to do sometimes you know? And after all I have Piper so I don’t really need anything else.”

“You’ve known each other for a long time right?” Percy asked.

“Since before I can remember.” Annabeth laughed, feeling the tension that always came when she talked about her family disappear. “I can’t think about my life without that one.” She smile and Percy followed.

“Grover and I are the same, and there’s also Rachel,” Percy didn’t finished because a hand came to his shoulder.

“Don’t believe a word that comes out of this guy’s mouth about me miss.” Grover, Annabeth deduced, leaned forward to whisper to Annabeth, pretending to cover a side of his face so Percy wouldn’t see. “He’s a liar.” Annabeth laughed when Percy pulled him by the shirt and started an argument very mature that consisted in ‘no, you’re the liar’ and ‘no, it’s you’. It took a while so Annabeth cleared her throat to call their attention. When both men looked at her she offered her hand to Grover.

“Annabeth Chase.” She smiled and Grover got a surprised look on his face.

“Annabeth?” He quickly glanced at Percy and Annabeth thought she saw him kicking the ginger man. Grover turned to her fast and took her hand. “Grover Underwood. Percy?” He asked, looking to his friend. “I remembered I needed to ask you something, can you come here for a while?” Percy sighed but nodded.

“I’ll be right back.” He gave Annabeth a weak smile and got up. The girl frowned a little and followed Percy and Grover with her eyes until they disappeared in the kitchen door.

By the time Percy came back, almost ten minutes later, their pizza had already arrived.

“Sorry about that.” He said, sitting down. “Grover’s a bit on edge with the baby and everything." Annabeth nodded in response.

“That’s okay. The only problem is the smell coming out of this thing.” She pointed to the pizza. “It’s delicious.”

“You could have started without me.” He said, trying unsuccessfully to put a slice on Annabeth’s plate. The girl chuckled a little and took the tools out of his hands.

“And where would be my manners if I did that Mr. Jackson?”

***

The rest of dinner was spent talking about stupid things again. They did get back on discussing Saint Seya and agreed on disagreeing. When their food was over Annabeth glanced at her watch and decided it was time to go home. She quickly went to the bathroom and when she was back Percy was nowhere to be seen. She looked around and he suddenly appeared by her side.

“I was just saying bye.” He explained. “Shall we go?”

“But what about the bill?”

“That’s okay. I’ve been eating in here my whole life and they haven’t charged me once.” He smiled and Annabeth nodded, a bit suspicious. On their way to the door she didn’t see Percy winking at Ferdinand who helped him paying it quickly while Annabeth was in the bathroom.

“Well Mr. Jackson,” Annabeth said, stopping outside the pizzeria. “it’s been a great afternoon.” She smiled and offered her hand for a shake.

“Indeed it’s been Miss Chase. But you don’t think I’ll let you go home alone at this time right?” He smiled when Annabeth looked irritated at him.

“I’m a big girl Percy. I can go home alone.”

“I know you can. But will you blame a guy for enjoying a not horrible company?” He smiled and started to walk toward the subway station. Annabeth rolled her eyes.

“Somewhat bearable.” She whispered to herself and followed Percy.

They remained silently for a while, but it was comfortable. Percy would every once in a while point out places he had gone with his parents or brother. Annabeth would smiled and make a comment every time, but she kept feeling a pain on her chest. Her parents had never visited her.

“Here’s our stop.” She said suddenly and they got out. They walked for about five minutes until they reached Annabeth’s home. “Well,” She said, offering her hand again. “Can I say goodbye now?” She asked stubbornly. Percy laughed and reached for her hand.

“It’s been a pleasure Miss Chase.”

“It’s been a pleasure Mr. Jackson.”

They stared at each other for a while, still holding hands. Annabeth let it go after a while and headed to her door. Before she climbed the stairs Percy called her.

“Annabeth?”

“Yeah?” She said, turning back to him. Percy walked a little, closing the distance between them.

“I just wanted you to know that if you ever need anyone, and you feel like your family’s not there for you, you can count on me.” He gave her a weak smile and Annabeth nodded slowly. Her eyes glanced from Percy’s eyes to his mouth. Licking her lips she sighed and went for Percy’s neck, pulling him closer to her and kissing him. It took Percy by surprise, but soon his hands were on her waist and he was responding to her. When their tongues met, something clicked on Annabeth’s mind and she quickly broke their kiss.

“I’m sorry Mr. Jackson, I mean Percy, I mean, sorry.” She covered her face with her hands and ran for her door, not looking back at Percy. As soon as she entered she closed the door after her and leaned on it.

“Annie?” She heard Piper’s voice coming from the kitchen.

“I kissed him.” She shouted and suddenly three voices shouted back at the same time.

“What?” Jason sounded completely lost.

“Who?” Will asked confused.

“How?” Piper said, already getting what Annabeth was talking about.

Annabeth grunted and went to sit on the couch. Piper was soon by her side and then Will, holding a big bowl of ice cream and two spoons. He sat by Annabeth’s other side and offered one to her. The girl smiled weakly and accepted it. Jason sat on an two people couch while the three of them sat on the other. Piper was holding herself a lot not to start jumping and screaming through the house on a full-mode fangirl attack. Annabeth appreciated it, so she decided to start talking.

She told them about her afternoon with Percy. The café, the movie, the pizza. She told them about their inside jokes, how he took her to his best friend’s pizza place. How he wanted to make sure she’d arrive safe at home. But when she told them about their family talk Piper’s face changed. Instinctively, the three of them got closer to Annabeth and she smiled a little. She kept saying she was fine every time one of them tried to touch her. When she gasped a little telling them how perfect Percy’s family was Will handed her the ice scream. She smiled while Piper wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. She breathed deeply and kept telling the story. That was a problem to be dealt with another time. She told them about the kiss and saw Piper waiting for permission. She nodded to the girl and she started to scream.

“I knew it.” She held Will’s face closer to her, making him pout with a mouth full of ice cream. “I just felt it.” She pointed at Jason. “You know how I just feel those things.” Jason nodded and chuckled a little.

“I really do. She’s right Annie.” Annabeth rolled her eyes.

“Traitor.”

“When’s your next date?” Piper asked.

“It was not a date Pipes, relax.” Annabeth said.

“You call it whatever you want Babygirl, it was a date.”

“Technically it was Annie.” Will said.

“Not you too. Wait, what you’re doing here?” Annabeth frowned.

“Suffering, basically.” He said, taking the ice cream from Annabeth. “I met a cute guy today and I saw Nico when I was with him. Long story short, the only thing a got was a phone number I’m not sure I’m going to use.”

“That’s rough buddy.” Annabeth leaned on Will and rested her head on his shoulder. “We can always give up on Mondays.” Will grunted and ate a spoonful of ice cream.

“Okay, you’re not doing this.” Piper went to sit by Jason’s side, his arms around her. “What we need is a plan.” She gave them a wicked grin and Annabeth and Will looked a bit frighteningly to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, you adorable people, I'm on holidays *crowd cheers*. Therefore I'll have more time to dedicate here. If you have any suggestions to improve the story they will be very welcome and analysed with love.  
> This chapter goes to one of my best friends, Dai, for always encourage me and for being the slightly inspiration for Piper and Jason's relationship.  
> Anyone who follows me on tumblr knows I'm a bit in love with Dick Grayson, so I'll keep the boy wonder nickname for Nico.  
> Again, i'd like to thank you all for the attention, comments, bookmarks andn kudos I get from you guys.  
> xx.


	6. What disguise do you use for the rest of the world?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello darlings. First I want to apologize for not updating when I said I would, but Christmas is always a complicated time at my home. Anyway, I also had some creative blocks, but I think I'm past that, so I hope you guys like it. xx.  
> Ps. The title comes from a lovely song 'Quem é você' from the amazing Filipe Catto. It's beautiful to hear even for non-Brazilian, so give it a try!!

****

After Jason managed to take Piper away from the living-room with the promise of a foot massage, Will and Annabeth decided they did not want her help. After all, they didn’t even have a problem to need help for.

“It was just a kiss right?” Annabeth asked, leaning on the couch’s arm to look better at Will.

“Indeed. And Nico’s not all that. He’s just a kid.”

“Exact. Percy didn’t even kiss me back, well, a lot.”

“I agree. I only see Nico once a week, it’s not like I need him to breath or anything.”

“My point exactly. I mean, my heart does beats a little faster when I see him and that had never happened before, but it’s nothing I can’t work out.”

“Same. My chest always hurts when I think of him and it was the best sex of my life, but who cares?”

“Wait what?” Annabeth and Will said in unison, snapping out of their conversations with themselves and stared at each other for a while.

“We’re kind of screwed aren’t we?” Annabeth rubbed her hand on her face and lay on Will’s lap.

“I think we are Annie.” Will answered, playing with Annabeth’s hair. “Good thing is, I’m pretty sure Jackson’s as far into it as you.” He smiled at her when she turned to face him.

“You think?” She scuffed and turned to hide her face on Will’s thighs when he nodded. “I don’t know how to do this Will. I ran from this my whole life. You know I don’t deal well with feelings and you know why.”

“I think you’ll just have to learn Babygirl. Maybe it’s time for you to leave your fears behind.” Annabeth rolled over again so she could stare at Will.

“What about you?” She tried to change the subject. “Because I’m no Piper, but I can beat that boy up anytime.”

“I know you can.” Will chuckled and then ran a hand through his hair. “But I don’t get him you know? When he saw me it seemed like he was happy you know? And then he just ran.”

“But that other boy was there right? The British one.”

“Octavian, Yeah, he was. But we were just being friendly you know.”

“I think you should talk to him. Nico I mean.” She said when Will stared at her in confusion. “Ask him what happened. Maybe he’ll give you a good reason. Jason sure seems to think he does have one.”

“I guess it’s a good plan. But I’ll think about it later. Now I have to go.” He started to gently take Annabeth’s head out of his lap and the girl looked at him with eyes wide open.

“Please don’t leave me alone with her.” She pointed to Piper’s room.

“Annie, from the noises we’re both hearing I think you’re safe for today.” Will laughed and kissed Annabeth’s cheek before heading for the door.

***

Nico felt like he’s been tossing and turning on his room the whole night. He tried turning the TV on. He tried the Internet. He even tried to masturbate, but nothing took his mind out of Will on Octavian arms. Yeah, he knew the boy. They had gone to school together. Nico knew his reputation. That was the only reason he was restless. Will was Jason’s friend and Nico cared about Jason, that’s all. He ran his hands through his face and grunted, sitting on his bed. He needed to do something about it, so he did the only thing he did when he was in trouble. He called Jason.

The blond picked up with a puffy voice. Nico smiled to himself.

“Busy?”

“No, that’s okay. You’re alright?” He asked and Nico could hear Piper on the other side shouting threats to Nico. He kind of deserved it.

“No, I’m fine. I just need to talk. You free tomorrow?” Jason must have noticed something on Nico’s tone because Piper was silent after that.

“Sure. Lunch?”

“Deal. I’ll make Mac and Cheese.” He soon ended the call, knowing Jason had better things to do now than talk on the phone with him.

Nico threw his phone to his side and lay on bed. His TV was still on and he focussed on the movie that was on. He had never seen this one before, but it was British. It was already on the middle, but Nico noticed it was a multi stories movie and he managed to understand almost everything. He didn’t even realised he was singing ‘All I want for Christmas is you’ at some point and then he started to cheer as some kid ran through the airport to tell a girl he loved her.

After that he decided to get some sleep. He wouldn’t accomplish anything by staying awake. It took him a while but he eventually felt his body relax. He opened his eyes and saw himself on a room very different from his. It was really dark and there were no windows. He was sitting on the bed, trying to make his eyes get used to the dim light when a voice came from what Nico deduced was the door.

“I told you we should redecorate this place. Add some light, maybe a bigger bed.” Nico looked toward the voice and saw him smirking while walking to him. “Or we can work something out with the one we have.” The boy stopped in front of Nico and he swallowed hard. He didn’t know how and he didn’t know why, but Will Solace was standing in front of him, looking like he would eat him up.

Will kept smirking as Nico ran his eyes over his body. The blond put a hand on Nico’s chest and made him lay on bed. Will then put one leg on each side of Nico, sitting lightly on his lap. Nico could do nothing but wait as Will leaned over to kiss him, hands travelling everywhere on his body. His lips were soon on his neck and kept going south. Nico started to moan as Will’s lips reached his nipples, kissing one as he smoothly touched the other with his fingers. His hands came to hold on Will’s head as he kissed his belly. Their eyes met as Will looked up to grin at Nico, hands on his shorts. Nico closed his eyes, waiting for Will’s mouth, but when he opened it he was back on his room, alone.

***

Annabeth had given up on arguing with Jason and Piper about getting late to college. They said their goodbyes and Annabeth headed to her economies class. Tuesdays were never really enjoyable because she didn’t know anybody in class and, of course Piper would never hear that, Percy wasn’t there. She sighed and flipped her hair, running through the corridors of the not very known building. After a while she decided she was lost and went to look for help. Annabeth sighed in relief when she saw Mr. Daedalus, the professor responsible for the many projects Annabeth had been working on since she entered college.

“Mr. Daedalus?” Annabeth asked shyly, seeing he was talking to someone. The older man looked over his shoulder when he heard his name and smiled to Annabeth. She smiled back until she glanced at the man behind her professor. She froze when she saw Percy Jackson smiling the most beautiful smile she had ever seen.

“Miss Chase, what a coincidence, we were just talking about you.” Annabeth felt her cheeks get red and stared between the two men. “I believe you know Mr. Jackson.” He pushed Percy a little so he would be in front of her. Annabeth couldn’t help herself but smile at the red cheeks Percy had, matching her own.

“We’ve exchanged some words.” He said and offered his hand. “Right Miss Chase?” Annabeth was feeling like a stupid teenage girl meeting her first boyfriend’s parents.

“Something like that.” She reached for his hand, her heart beating so fast on her chest she was afraid Percy could feel it on her palm.

“Well then,” Deadalus said, oblivious to the interaction near him. “He was telling me what a great student you are, nothing new there, but he also told me about an argument you two had.” The man turned to Annabeth and she snapped out of her concentration on Percy’s eyes.

“That was, well, not a really good day.” She answered shyly and realised she was still holding Percy’s hand. She quickly let it go and used it to put her hair behind her ear. “But I think we solved that, right Mr. Jackson?” She turned to him and he smiled to her.

“I believe we did Miss Chase.” They kept staring at each other until Deadalus put his hand on Annabeth’s shoulder.

“Now my dear, why you’re here?” He asked with the lovely tone Annabeth was so fond of.

“I’m lost, actually. This building is like a labyrinth and I don’t know where to go.” She said, suddenly very interested on her hands.

“I wish I could help, but I’m on short schedule here. I’m sure Percy would love to walk you to your class.” Deadalus patted Annabeth shoulder twice and started to leave, going to Percy, giving him a short hug. Annabeth saw Percy blushing, but she couldn’t hear Deadalus telling him ‘at least wait until she graduates.’  

“So,” Percy started, after Deadalus left them. “What’s your class?” He smiled and she handed him a piece of paper.

“Economies.” She said, sounding annoyed.

“Seems nice.”

“Freaking awesome.” Annabeth said sarcastically and Percy laughed. He read the paper and pointed to his left.

“The class’ this way Miss Chase.” He glanced at her and Annabeth just rolled her eyes playfully.

They walked in silence for a while, exchanging glances between every now and then.

“I’m sorry about,” Annabeth said at the same time Percy said:

“I had a great time,” They said ‘yesterday’ together and stared at each other. “You’re sorry?” Percy asked, stopping in front a classroom Annabeth recognised as hers. “Why?” He sounded sad and she caressed his arm before realising.

“I... I mean, I, you, I shouldn’t have, you know.” She flipped her hair and looked to the classroom.

“Well, I think you’re taking the whole blame and I’m pretty sure I was part of it too.” He smiled and took Annabeth’s hand from his arm and held it. “We have our study group today.” Percy looked at their hands linked. “It would be much nicer if you were there you know?” He smiled and she followed.

“I will see what I can do for you.” She used her thumb to make small circles on the palm of Percy’s hand. “But right now I have to go to class.” She gently took her hand off. “Seven right?” Percy nodded and she went for the door. “Bye Mr. Jackson.”

“See you later Miss Chase.” They kept staring at each other until she reached the door knob. “Oh, and Miss Chase?” She looked back at him. “If you’re interested, I believe Mr. Di Angelo will be there as well.” She grinned at him and entered the classroom.

***

“It’s open.” Nico shouted to the door when he heard the door bell. Jason entered his apartment to find him very busy with many pans on the cooker.

“You’re indeed making lunch. I’m impressed.” Jason smiled, coming to sit near Nico.

“You’re the only untalented person on this family my friend.”

“Hey, I’m very talented. I’m a great listener,  otherwise I wouldn’t be here.” He looked at Nico and the boy noticed his cousin already knew the reason why he was there.

“Does Piper hate me?” He asked, not ready to enter the subject directly.

“A little. But she loves me so I think you’re safe, if you don’t screw things up, more I mean.” Nico managed to laugh at that.

“I dreamed about him last night.” Nico said, not meeting Jason’s eyes.

“Normal dream or wet dream?”

“Wet dream.”

“Damn. I didn’t think you were this far into him.”

“Neither did I, but yesterday I saw him with an old schoolmate and it just,” Nico ran his hands through his hair and turned the cooker off. “I’m not used to this Jason, I don’t want it.” Jason chuckled at that, but he was a little unsure. He had never seen Nico like this.

“He told us about this guy, he’s British right?”

“Yeah, and an asshole. That’s actually why I called. I wanted you to tell William to be careful with Octavian. The guy’s a snake.” Jason nodded at that.

“So you called me to make sure Will would be safe?”

“I just saw friends of mine getting hurt because of him and I don’t want it to happen to him because I, I,”

“Care about him?” Jason tried.

“You could say that. Now could you set the table, lunch’s ready.”

They ate in silence after that, but Jason kept glancing at Nico, worried about his actions.

“Could you stop staring and just ask me what’s on your mind?” Nico said and Jason sighed. He pushed his plate away and put his elbows on the table.

“Alright then. If you’re having this kind of feelings, why don’t you go to him and talk about what happened?” Nico hid his face on his hands.

“He won’t talk to me.”

“You don’t know that.”

“He ran from me yesterday.”

“He’s just hurt, you should at least try and,”

“And what Jason?” Nico shouted. “And then what? It’s better like this and you know it. Sooner or later I’ll do something and he will, he will,” Nico choked a little on his words and Jason was soon kneeling next to him.

“Nico, I know what you’re feeling, but you shouldn’t waste your life because you’re afraid of living it.” Jason put a hand on Nico’s hand over his lap.

“People leave Jason.” He said, almost in a whisper.

“I’m still here.” Nico stared at Jason, his eyes filled with tears. “Hazel’s still here. Your father’s still here.” He picked a napkin from the table and handed it to Nico. “You should give Will at least the chance to try.”

“He hates me.” Nico said, wiping his tears with the napkin.  

“Right now? A little. But I know you, you can bring him back in a blink of an eye.” Nico chuckled at that.

“I think you’re mistaking me for you golden boy.” Jason ruffled Nico’s hair and got up.

“Have I ever lied to you?” Jason asked, heading for the living-room. “Now, where’s that ‘Injustice’ so I can kick your ass?”

***

“I’m not going.”

“Please Will. Please.” Annabeth was completely aware of how pathetic she had become, but she couldn’t stop herself. “You have nothing better to do anyway.”

“Oh, I do Annie. I have like three papers to write until Friday, I will not waste a day to stay holding you so you won’t jump on Mr. Perfect Eyes”

“Will,” Annabeth whined. “Please, you won’t regret, I promise.” She said. Of course she didn’t mention Nico would be there or she wouldn’t be able to make Will go, no matter how much she begged.

“Nope.”

“I’ll do one of your papers.”

“Haha, you will, wait, you will do what?” Will asked surprised.

“One of your papers. I’m still low on homework, so it won’t be a burden.” She could hear Will thinking on the other end.

“Fine.” He said after a while. “But I can’t promise I’ll be there until the end.”

“I can live with that.” She smiled and left home, arranging to meet Will in half an hour, because of course she would go home to take a shower and get ready.

When she arrived at the college, Will was already waiting for her.

“I hate you.” He said. “I hate you so much. You knew Nico would be here, didn’t you?”

“I had no knowledge of that fact Sunny Boy.” Annabeth smiled to herself as she passed by Will.

“Liar.” Will whispered to her as they entered.

Percy’s office had a big table on the centre of it. The professor was on one end, with Nico by his left side. On his side Annabeth recognised Lee Fletcher and Katie Gardiner, but the other two students she didn’t know. She was in front of Will and let the boy close the door, but his eyes met Nico’s, the only one who had noticed their entrance, and the door escaped his hands, closing loudly. Annabeth blinked hard and when she opened her eyes she saw Percy giving her that smile that made her knees go week.

“Miss Chase, Mr. Solace, welcome. I was beginning to think you wouldn’t make it.”

“Well, my friend Will here had some problems deciding his clothes.” She winked at Nico and sat by Percy’s side. The professor smirked at that and Will pushed her head lightly when he sat by her side.

“If we are all settled, let’s continue.”

Percy talked for what Annabeth felt like hours about ancient architecture. She made her best not to engage in an argument, but she couldn’t. Her biggest project was about a rebuilt of the Parthenon in Athens. They spend pretty much the entire time of the reunion discussing and only stopped when Katie’s head feel loudly on the table.

“Sorry, what did I miss?” She asked, a little dizzy.

“Not much,” Will said. “those two were about to jump on each other’s throat, but besides that, everything’s normal.” He yawned.

“I think that’s all folks.” Lee said and got up. “Come on Clovis.” He patted at the blond boy by his side. “Arsenal’s playing today.” He turned to Percy. “Today was great Mr. Jackson, but if it was for me to watch a couple fighting I’d be home.” He nodded and left, Clovis following close.

“We, we’re not.” Percy tried but Katie interrupted.

“He’s kidding sir. But you two were kinda boring today.” She gave them a weak smile. “We’re going too.” She said. “Come Lou.” They waved their goodbyes and left too.

Annabeth and Percy were staring at them in disbelief. They looked to each other and then to Nico and Will, the only two left on the room.

“Was it really that bad?” Annabeth asked.

“Well.” Nico and Will answered in unison and then stopped, shyly smiling at each other.

“Damn it.” Percy ran a hand through his hair. “Well, the least I can do is offer yo guys something. Are you up for a beer or maybe a pizza?” Percy asked, more to the boys than to Annabeth.

“I’d love to,” Will said sarcastically. “but I have three, I mean, two, papers to write.” He flinched his eyebrows toward Annabeth and got up. “Maybe next time.”

“I can’t neither.” Nico said. “I had some problems sleeping last night, I should probably go to bed early.” Annabeth noticed how he would avoid looking at Will as he spoke.

“And what about you Miss Chase?” Percy asked, looking hopefully to her.

“I could eat something, if I’m getting a ride out of this.”

“We can work something.” Percy smiled and got up. “I have some things to get but I’ll meet you by the parking lot.” She nodded and smiled, getting up to stand with Will.

“Nico?” She turned to the younger boy and he glanced at Will quickly. He got up and followed the two of them.

They got out and Annabeth leaned on the wall.

“Where you boys going?” She asked.

“Home.” They answered in unison and looked at each other again.

“Our home, I mean, my home, I mean, our own homes.” Will said and rubbed a hand on his face. Annabeth smiled and looked at Nico, who had a glow on his face.

“William, I was thinking,” He started but a hand came to his shoulder.

“Girls,” Leo said, smiling. “And my favourite Ghost King, what a nice surprise.”  
Nico shook Leo’s hand off his shoulder and noticed the uncomfortable look on Will’s face.

“Don’t be a jerk Leo.” Annabeth said. “Go to wherever you go when you disappear.”

“I’m going home. I just came to say hello.” He was still smiling and Will was hugging himself.

“You’re going home? Great. There’s some stuff I have to get with Jason, I’ll go with you.” Annabeth noticed how Nico’s eyes changed, but she couldn’t see exactly how, maybe anger? “I’ll see you guys around.” He looked at Will again but the boy was staring at his feet. He nodded to Annabeth and left.

“You okay?” Annabeth asked, pulling Will by the waist. He gave her half a smile.

“He’s just an idiot, I can live. Now I have to go.” He kissed her head. “Behave.” He whispered. “Bye Mr. Jackson.”

“By Will.” Percy said behind Annabeth. “And please call me Percy.”

***

“So,” Percy asked as he turned the engine on. “where you want to go?”

“Not pizza please, I try to be at least a bit healthy during the week.” Percy chuckled at that and started to leave the college grounds.  

“So what do you suggest Miss Chase?”

“Hm, how you feel about sushi?”

They ended up in a small Japanese restaurant near Annabeth’s place. It was almost empty, except by a couple and a family with two kids. Percy pulled a chair so Annabeth could sit and she rolled her eyes playfully. He smiled and went to sit across from her. The table was small and their legs kept touching under it. They looked at each other and smiled. Annabeth used her foot to smoothly rub Percy’s ankle. He chuckled a little and then captured her legs with his own, holding her feet on the floor.

“Excuse me?” A voice called and they turned. “Are you ready to order?” A young girl with a gentle smile asked them.

“Sorry, but we haven’t seen the menu yet.” Percy said. “What do you suggest?”  

The girl gave them some ideas and they settled with some combinations. She was out to get their drinks and they were alone again.

“So, I was wondering, can this count as a second date?” Percy asked, carefully looking for his words.

“I’m not really used to dates, so I don’t know.” She smiled apologetically and he reached for her hand.

“I’m not really good with it either, but I’m willing to try,” He was drawing circles on Annabeth’s palm. “if you want, of course.” Annabeth looked at him and smiled.

“Give me some time and I answer you okay?” She said in a gentle tone and Percy nodded.

“So, why don’t you tell me some more about that project of yours?”

***

Percy insisted in walking Annabeth to the door, after opening the car for her and offering his hand to help she get up.

“Such a gentleman Mr. Jackson.” She smiled at him and he closed the door behind her.

“I have to have good manners in the presence of a lady Miss Chase.” He chuckled a little and pulled her hand to his. Her smile disappeared from her lips.

“Percy, I’ve never done this, you know? This innocent flirtation, holding hands on the street. I always ran from this. I’ve dreamed about a prince charming until the day my mother left. I saw what happened to my father, I never wanted to feel like that.” She swallowed hard and a tear felt from the corner of her eye. Percy quickly wiped it out of her cheek with his thumb.

“I don’t know what you felt Annabeth, but I can assure you I’ll try my best to avoid you to feel like that again.” He pulled her closer. “I really like you Annabeth Chase, and I haven’t felt like this in a while.” He smiled and put her hair behind her ear. She chuckled a little and leaned her forehead to his.

“I don’t know how we’ll make this work thought.”

“We’ll figure something out I guess.” He smiled and she cupped his face with her hands, pulling his lips to hers.

This kiss was deeper and longer. Annabeth hugged Percy’s neck and he pulled her by the waist. They were soon discovering every corner of each other’s mouth. Annabeth smiled into their kiss but pulled back.

“It’s getting a bit late.” She explained, seeing Percy’s look of surprise. “I should probably go inside. Piper will love to hear about, well, us. She’s your number one fan.”

“Remember me to thank her for that later.” He said and kissed her again quickly. “Or maybe I could go in and say it myself.” He smiled teasingly at Annabeth and she rolled her eyes, biting his lower lip playfully.

“Maybe some other time. I don’t think we should rush anything.” He smiled and kissed her forehead, letting go of her waist.

“You’re probably right. Today was already great anyway.” She smiled too and started to walk back, her hand travelling from his shoulder to his arm until she found his hand. She held it as far as she could and turned to her door. She climbed the stairs and opened it, turning to smile at Percy one last time.

“Good night Miss Chase.”

“Good night Mr. Jackson.” She said and entered her door. By the time she entered her apartment Piper was making dinner. She looked at her and smiled. The brunette raised an eyebrow.

“I kissed him.” She said.

“Oh great, you say it one more time and we’ll have a singing Michael Keaton on our living room in a stripes suit. Believe me, that’s not something I’m looking forward to.” Her tone was aggressive, but she was soon smiling and jumping around Annabeth. “I want to hear it all.”

***

Jason should be used to walking on Annabeth and Piper gossiping, but yet he was a little surprised when he got out of the shower and found they both curled on the couch as Piper playfully hit Annabeth and laughed. She took the blond's shoulders on her hands. “I can’t believe it.” She said. “Percabeth is a go.”

“Perca what now?” Jason came to join them. 

“Percabeth.” Piper answered. “Percy and Annabeth.” She smiled, taking Annabeth’s face on her hands and squeezing it. “Hooray.”

“Oh, I see. Good for you honey.” Jason winked.

“Thanks honey. Let’s see how long I can make it work.”

“You’ll do it just fine. I don’t tell you this enough, but you pretty awesome.”

“Own.” Annabeth said and came to hug Jason. “You pretty awesome too.”

“And I,” Piper said. “am really jealous right now. Come love me.” She opened her arms and they both jumped on her. After rolling a little on the couch, Annabeth and Jason held Piper down.

“Wait a minute, how long have you been here?” She asked Jason.

“Since the afternoon. I had lunch with Nico and then came here.”

“So you didn’t meet Nico tonight?”

“No, why?” He asked, confused. Annabeth smiled, figuring something out.

“Nothing. For now it's just assumptions.” Annabeth was having a lot of fun by just staring at their lost faces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, I have some news. I'm going to the Old World *Crowd cheers*, and I won't take my baby (pc), therefore I won't be able to write. I'll be back on February and will write as soon as possible. I want to thank you all for following the story until now and I hope you'll be back with me next year.  
> Well, I want to wish you all Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, if I'm not able to post another chapter this year and thank you all again for all the kudos, bookmarks and comments, you all make my day.  
> This chapter goes to the person who asked me for the update some day after Sunday. ;)  
> PS. If I can't update, here are some spoilers for next year:  
> \- We'll have a masquerade ball.  
> _ Some parents will make an appearance.  
> _ There will be a twist that will create problems to one of our couples.  
> That's it, if you want you're welcome to talk to me on tumblr: weareallinlovetonight  
> xxx.


	7. The calm before the storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again people. I'm really sorry for taking so long to update. I had some personal problems, so it was hard for me to write. I hope you enjoy the chapter. Thank you for sticking around. xx.

Annabeth felt a bit ashamed to be upset about waking up on Wednesday without a good morning text from Percy, until, of course, she remembered they had never exchanged numbers. While she was getting ready for college she made up a plan to change that. When she got out of her room she realized she had made the right choice.

“Damn girl.” Piper said, dramatically let the sandwich she was eating fall on the table.

“Hello nurse.” Jason said, whistling. Annabeth flipped her hair as she came closer to them.

“Thank you my darlings.” She smiled and sat by their side.

“May we ask where you’re going so foxy?” Piper raised an eyebrow at her, smirking.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Annabeth picked a cookie from the table.

“Sure, sure. You’re with your ‘I’m sexy look at me’ necklace and you’re wearing heels. For college.” Piper stared at Annabeth waiting. It was true. She was wearing a light blue shirt, because she knew how much Percy liked it, a black skirt that was just small enough to show a necessary half of her thigh, the black heels Piper had talked about, not very high but enough to make her figure slimmer and the small ‘A’ necklace she always used when she wanted to draw attention to her cleavage.

“I’m wearing nothing special.” She chuckled a bit when Piper leaned and smelled her neck.

“You cow, you’re wearing my mother’s fragrance.” Piper was looking accusingly at her. “What are your intentions today.” She made a small show of getting the flashlight of her mobile phone in front of Annabeth’s face and the blond laughed. She had to admit that Aphrodite’s perfume may have been a little too much, but what could she do? When she got it as a two months later birthday present, Piper’s mother said to use it on special occasion or it wouldn’t be special at all.

“I’m going to see Percy today.” She decided to give it to Piper, the girl was almost exploding.

“You guys have a date at 8 am?” Piper asked, her face turning from amusement to confusion and vice-versa.

“Not really. I realized I don’t have his number and as I’m not really into waiting until destiny put us on each other’s way again, I decided to go to his office and talk to him.”

“Or you could just wait until Monday.” Jason said with a mouthful of bread. Piper quickly put her hand on his mouth.

“Shush now babe, can’t you see our little Babygirl is already becoming a poet? Love suits you Annie.” Piper had dreaming eyes and Annabeth just rolled hers.

“It’s not love, we’re just getting to know each other.” She started to get up and head for her bathroom to finish her makeup, hearing Piper shouting.

“Keep telling yourself that sweetheart.”

***

Annabeth kept glancing at the clock above her head. It was half past 8 and yet, no Percy. The good thing was that he always got late to their classes, so he’d probably arrive at any time. Not to mention she wasn’t even a little bit anxious to get to her own class. So there she was, sitting on Percy’s table on his office, waiting for her professor. She had been a little bit surprised to find the door opened, but she entered anyway. When the clock struck 8.45 Annabeth lay on the table, her legs crossed and her knees up. She was playing with some clips she had found on Percy’s desk when the door hung open and several portfolios feel on the floor. Annabeth turned her face to find an open mouthed Percy staring at her, one hand on the door knob and the other loose near his waist, holding a single piece of paper that had survived the fall.

“Hey.” Annabeth said shyly, slowly getting up, just to sit on the edge of the desk. “I’m sorry about bursting in, it was open and I thought you were here.” She gave him her best apologetic smile while tossing her hair and he just nodded. “So, how are you?” Annabeth asked, after Percy said nothing for a while and just stood by the door.

“Am I dreaming?” Percy asked, clearing his throat after. “Cause I’m pretty sure I had this dream already.” Annabeth’s eyes got wilder but she laughed.

“No Mr. Jackson, you’re not dreaming.” She stopped laughing and bit her lips slowly, while looking at him. “You can touch me and see that I’m pretty real.” Percy swallowed hard and Annabeth flipped her hair. He muttered a ‘fuck it’ and went toward her, pushing the door harder than he calculated, making it close with a bang. Annabeth laughed as Percy got closer to her and hugged her waist. She smirked at him when his face got closer enough and put her legs around him, pulling him closer.

“You look stunning.” Percy said, his lips slightly touching hers.

“I thought you’d like the shirt.” She said and leaned forth, bringing their mouths together.

This kiss was by far Annabeth’s favourite. She had kissed many boys her entire life, but she had never gone farther than two dates, so their kisses were hungrily, and generally good, but she had never felt this intimacy with someone. It sounded crazy on her head that she would feel it with someone she had never had sex before but wouldn’t feel it with the many boys she had been on bed with. Those thoughts kept running through her head and she hugged Percy tighter, with her legs and arms, now, hugging his neck.

Percy on the other hand could only think how this morning had gone much better than he had previously thought it would go. After calling Grover, on the night before, to tell him the news about Annabeth, Percy spent about an hour on the phone listening to his best friend listing all the reasons that was a terrible idea. Percy tried to counter-argument that it wasn’t such a serious matter, but Grover wouldn’t listen. Juniper had to save him from his friend’s paranoia. He knew he meant well, but, as he tried to explain to Grover many times, it was the first time since his almost marriage he had felt like that.

After hanging up, Percy had spent most of his night balancing pros and cons. In the end, the only thing he could think about was Annabeth’s lips on his and her body close. He remembered feeling her pulse through her palm and how fast her heart was beating. That was the only point he had decided to use and declared his whatever-kind-of-relationship with Annabeth was a cons-free one.

On the next morning he decided to make some changes. To begin with he decided that he should not go to bed at 4 am when he had to be up early on the next day. The second thing he decided was to start taking faster breakfasts, because he missed an awful lot of time with bacon and eggs. The third thing was to use more public transportation, seeing his car ride took him half an hour longer to get to college. While he parked his car that morning he had his head full of tiredness and concern, because he suddenly remembered that he had forgot his office door opened, avid to meet Annabeth. When he opened the door and saw Annabeth laying on his desk he thought his heart would jump out of his throat. He completely froze. He could see she was talking to him, but the words wouldn’t leave his mouth. When he finally spoke, it was to say something as ridicule as asking if he was dreaming. He was lucky Annabeth seemed to find him quite amusing, or he would be at lost.

Now he was kissing her. He had her legs and arms wrapped around him and he could smell the most amazing scent on her. It wasn’t her usual, but it was just as addictive. His hands kept traveling through her body as far as he thought Annabeth would allow, taking as much of her as he could. Her kisses were slowly taking control of his mind and soon Percy’s only thoughts were about the girl on his arms. When she broke the kiss for some air he felt like she had taken a bit of him with her.

“Hold on a little tiger.” She smiled as she leaned her forehead on his. “I still have to go to class.”

“Do you really have to? I could say you were helping me with a project or something.” He kept trying to bring her body closer to his and she kept giggling. Annabeth put her arms on Percy’s shoulder and leaned back so she could stare at him.

“I have to.” She gave small pecks on his lips. “But I came here for a reason, not just for fun.”

“And what would that reason be?” He asked.

“I realized we’ve reached this point,” She motioned between them. “and we haven’t exchanged numbers yet.” She kissed him again and he laughed.

“Well, that’s actually true.” Annabeth could swear she saw him blush. “But we have to admit our relationship is not quite conventional, right?” She rolled her eyes playfully and griped his tie, a matching colour with her shirt, and brought his body down on the desk with her. Once they were laying together on it, she turned them so she could lay on top of Percy, getting him by surprise. He just chuckled a little and wrapped his arms around her.

“So why don’t we discuss our conventionality another time, seeing I’m already an hour late for class? We can make it an hour and a half.” She smiled and leaned to kiss Percy again.

***

Annabeth checked her watch once she was out of Percy’s office. It was almost noon.

“Damn.” She told herself as she fixed her hair. She quickly sent a message to Will asking if he would like to go to lunch. While she was heading for the cafeteria she got a text back from Will saying he’d meet her there soon. She leaned on the wall, got her headphones and plugged it to her mobile. While searching for a song she noticed she had a goofy smile on her lips that she could not get rid of. She skipped through many different songs until she settled on Mads Langer, it seemed fitted for the situation. After she put her mobile back on her pocket, Annabeth rested her head on the wall and closed her eyes, replaying her morning in her mind, feeling her heartbeat get faster and butterflies threatening to burst out of her stomach.

 After a while she heard her name and turned to find a shy looking Nico waving to her, as he came closer.

“Hey.” He said, staring at his own feet.

“Hey you.” She smiled at him, taking her headphones out.

“Good night?” He asked with a weak smile.

“Good morning.” Her smile got wilder. “But not what you’re thinking kiddo, much more innocent.” She winked and he chuckled a little. After a while of no subject, Nico started to play with his fingers, showing Annabeth that he had something to say.

“Annabeth, about yesterday, was Will okay?” She frowned a little, remembering how Leo’s words hurt Will. She stared at Nico for a while and noticed how nervous he was about talking to her, but right now she just wanted everything working fine and people being happy. She rolled her eyes to herself. If Piper could see her now.

 “Why don’t you ask him?” She pointed behind him and Nico turned to see Will running to them. When he saw Nico he missed a step and almost fell on the floor. Nico chuckled a little and hid his face so Annabeth wouldn’t see him blush. Of course he failed.

“Hey Annie.” Will kissed her cheek. “Nico.” He nodded to him and the boy nodded back. Annabeth only sighed. ‘Men’ She thought to herself.

“Well, it was nice seeing you.” Nico said. “But I have to go.”

“Why don’t you have lunch with us?” She tried to be helpful.

“I can’t. I have a test and I don’t think,” Nico started but his eyes met something behind him and he stopped for a while. “Leo.” Annabeth noticed how he changed his tone. “How are you?” Leo murmured a ‘I’m fine’ and kept staring at his feet. “Good.” Nico said and crossed his arms, staring at Leo. The boy sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

“Will?” The blond suddenly looked up, he had been staring at the floor since Leo arrived.  
“Yeah?”

“I just wanted to apologize for the jokes I’ve been making.” Annabeth noticed how he kept glancing at Nico as he spoke. “I have nothing to do with your life and they were not funny. I’m sorry.” He kept looking between Nico and the floor.

“Oh, that’s actually really nice. Thanks man.” Will sounded relieved and offered his hand for a shake, being taken completely by surprise with the act of kindness. Annabeth just stared at Nico while the other boys shook hands. When he looked at her she just raised an eyebrow and gave him a knowing look. The way Nico blushed was confirmation enough.

“We’re fine right?” Leo asked more to Nico than to Will, but the blond had a big smile on his lips and patted Leo’s shoulder twice.

“Of course man. Want to grab lunch?” Leo looked a little lost, asking silently for Nico’s reaction, but the boy was too worried paying attention to Annabeth.

“I can’t, maybe another time. I have... I have to go.” He said and left them as fast as he could.

“Man that was really nice of him.” Will was smiling broadly but then he looked at Nico and his smile faded. “Anyway, we should go inside Annie, I’m really hungry.” He nodded slightly to Nico and headed for the door. Nico stayed there, watching him and waiting for Annabeth.

“So Mr. Darcy, what’s actually your big plan to win Miss Bennet’s heart?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Sure you don’t, but today you got me on a really good mood, so I’ll tell you something.” Annabeth moved so she could stare at the boy. “You screwed things up once.” She started poking his chest. “But your dear cousin keeps defending you and now you’re acting like Will’s knight in a shining armor, so hear me carefully. I’ll help you get him back if you want, but if you blow this up again I’m making sure you get castrate in the middle of the Independence Day parade, did I make myself clear?” Nico swallowed hard and nodded. “Good.” She said and ran a little so she would catch Will’s pace, leaving Nico alone, rubbing his face furiously.

***

“Wait a minute.” Will leaned closer and smelled Annabeth’s neck. “You are using Aphrodite’s scent.” He said accusingly, shock on his face. “Who are you and what did you do with my friend?” Annabeth rolled her eyes and pushed Will back to his seat.

“Not you too. I already had to hear this speech this morning.”

“Well, to be fair, you’re giving it to Piper too easily. It’s not even funny anymore.” Annabeth punched him softly on the arm. “Violence won’t solve your love case Annie.” He smiled and she started to hit him again, over and over. “Not the face, not the face.” He was laughing while she hit him until a voice near them called their attention.

“Will?” They turned, Will’s hand in front of his face and Annabeth’s arm raised to hit him again.  “Hey.” Octavian said, big grin on his face. “It’s nice seeing you again.”

“Hey.” Will answered, lowering his arms. They fell into a weird silence until Annabeth cleared her throat. “Hm, Octavian, this is Annabeth. Annabeth, Octavian.” Will waved his hands around them and they shook hands politely.

“It’s nice meeting you Annabeth. Will told me a lot about you.” Octavian gave her a huge smile but she just stared at him.

“Did he huh? I can’t say the same.” She started to get up while giving Will a ‘are you serious?’ look. “Anyway, I should get going. See you around.” She nodded at the younger boy and left. Will smiled shyly and offered the sit next to him to Octavian. As soon as the boy sat, Will felt his phone vibrate and excused himself with his head and looked at it. It was a message from Annabeth saying that the boy screamed trouble.

“So,” Octavian started, bringing Will’s attention to himself. “I’ve been meaning to call you.”

“Oh, have you?” Will said, paying more attention at answering Annabeth than the blond in front of him.

“Yeah. I was wondering if we could hang out sometime.” Octavian ran a hand up Will’s arm slowly, staring at Will’s lips. “I think it would be much nicer than talking to whoever is on the other side of those messages.” Will frowned a little and stared at Octavian. He had a grin on his face, but his words had been harsh. His hand travelled down Will’s body until it found his thigh. Octavian squeezed his knee and their eyes met. “What do you think?” Will was completely at loss. Usually he would have cut anyone who spoke like this instantly, but something in the way Octavian was looking at him made him nod and murmur.

“Sure.”

***

Annabeth had barely exited the cafeteria when she got her mobile to send a warning message to Will. She felt quite proud of her reading people skills and that boy was trouble with a capital T. She relaxed a little when Will answered he was just someone he met, but that he had no intention of having anything with him. After a couple of answers Will stopped sending messages and Annabeth was about to put her mobile back on her pocket when another message made her grin reappear on her face.

**“** **Just testing if I didn’t get the wrong number from this blond I met this morning. ;)”**

Annabeth’s grin just got wilder.

**“Sorry man. I’m actually ginger.”**

**“Hmm, that’s bad. I was going to ask her out today. Anyway, you’re free?”**

Annabeth burst into laughter at the entrance of the cafeteria, but she quickly stopped when she noticed some students staring at her.

**“I don’t really like the rebound role, but sure, what’s on your mind?”**

She tried to put herself together when she noticed that she had actually licked her lips, but the next message took all of her strengths out.

**“That’s surprise. =D”**

**“Pick me up at 8. :*”**

She was sending kissing faces now. She might as well spare Piper the trouble and start writing A heart P on her notebooks.

***

The house was empty when Annabeth arrived at about 2 o’clock. She was really relieved when she remembered that Piper would stay at the university the entire day for some lectures. She left her bag on her bedroom’s floor and decided to get some work done before she started stressing out about what to wear tonight. She rolled her eyes to herself. She had no idea what had happened to her, but she wasn’t sure she cared.

The first thing she did was check her emails. After two from the university and one about the release of a new lipstick from her favourite cosmetic company Annabeth was facing an email from her mother that read urgent. She danced with the arrow from her computer in front of it for about five minutes before deciding against it. Whatever it was, Annabeth was sure it would ruin her mood for today. If it was really that urgent she would have called anyway.

After that she quickly checked her social networks, perhaps spending a little too much time on some, and decided to finally work a little on her masterpiece. She gently picked her model from the wardrobe and put it on her bed. After also getting her notepad she sat on the floor and began working.

Time flew by and before Annabeth noticed her mobile biped and there was a message from Percy saying he would be some minutes late. She quickly got up and ran to the bathroom when she saw it was almost 8. She punched herself mentally for not setting an alarm. She always lost track of time when working on her project.

After the quickest shower she managed to take, Annabeth started throwing clothes around her room. She was only on her underwear and bra when she noticed Piper smirking from the door.

“Don’t.” Annabeth pointed at Piper. “When I’m back I’ll let you say anything you want. Now help me find something to wear.” Piper just stared at her, still smirking, and raised an eyebrow to her. “Please. I need your help.” Piper’s face lightened up and she danced her way to Annabeth.

“Step out of the way and let the specialist do her job.” Annabeth sighed in relief and picked her model to put it back in place. Then she sat at the edge of her bed and waited. She knew better than try to say anything when Piper got into stylish mode.

Good thing was she didn’t have to wait much. Less than five minutes later she presented Annabeth a pair of black shorts, a see-through cream shirt. “Change that bra, put the black one on.” She headed back to the wardrobe for the shoes while Annabeth changed. “Perfect.” She handed Annabeth a pair of black pumps and waited for the blond’s opinion.

Annabeth finished changing and stood in front of her full body mirror. “Hm,” Piper said. “there’s something missing.” She had her hand on her chin and was staring at Annabeth’s image on the mirror. Suddenly Piper snapped her fingers. “Of course.” She headed to her room but turned at the door. “Wait here.” And left.

The only thing Annabeth managed to do was laugh. This remembered her of their graduation ball. Annabeth didn’t really paid much attention into choosing a dress. Piper of course had another plan. At first, Annabeth had planned to just use whatever she had, but after Piper finished helping her get ready, she got lost on herself. She remembered feeling like a Disney princess on that day. Ever since, when it came to clothing, she would do whatever Piper told her to.

That’s why Annabeth was finding it weird that her best friend wasn’t satisfied. The blond staring back at her seemed smoking hot, she didn’t know why Piper felt like there was something missing.

“Here.” Piper said, entering the room and putting something on Annabeth’s hair. “You said he likes blue right?” Piper smiled tenderly at her and Annabeth turned to the mirror once again. There was a small blue fish holding a part of her hair up. It was really delicate, with a small black stone as an eye and Annabeth loved it. “See.” Piper said, hugging Annabeth while they both looked at their image on the mirror. “Perfect.”

***

Annabeth was finishing her makeup when she her the doorbell ring.

“I’ll take it.” Piper shouted and ran to the door.

“Behave.” Annabeth shouted back. She ended getting ready as fast as she could and checked herself out one last time before going to save Percy from Piper.

To her credit, Piper seemed to be behaving herself, offering Percy coffee and crackers and not threatening him or anything. She waited a little before interrupting to look at Percy. He was wearing dark jeans, a light blue shirt, of course, and a black blazer. She may or may not have lost her breath a little bit while walking toward them. Piper noticed her and smiled, seeing the way she was looking at Percy. “There you are Babygirl.”

Percy turned to look at her and Annabeth felt her heart skip a bit. A pair of beautiful green eyes was staring at her like it had never seen anything so beautiful.

“Hello Mr. Jackson.” Annabeth said shyly. She could feel the amused smile Piper was giving her, but she couldn’t look away from Percy.

“Hello Miss Chase.” He said after a while, smiling at her. “Ready to go?” He asked, offering his arm to her. Annabeth opened a big grin and accepted the offer.

“Bring her home at a decent time mister. She’s a family’s girl.” Piper shouted as they left the building.

***

The car ride was silly to say the least and Percy was loving each part of it. He couldn’t make his hands stop shaking and was trying his best not to show it to Annabeth. Oh Annabeth. Percy couldn’t remember the last time he had lost his breath because of a girl. Well, that was clearly a lie, because ever since he had met Annabeth, he would lose his breath every time he looked at her. That night she was specially gorgeous and after he managed to control himself he told her so. Offering his hand so she could get inside the car, he leaned closer and whispered it in her ear. He then kissed her on the cheek and went to the drivers seat, loving the way she blushed to his words.

They had some light conversation, both too nervous to engage into conversations that required their full attention.

“So you’re not telling me where we’re going?” Annabeth asked.

“I told you, it’s a surprise.” He glanced at her quickly before get his attention back on the road.

After some minutes they got to a one car road and Annabeth frowned.

“You do know that if you kill me today Piper’s coming for you right?” Percy laughed.

“You’re the best thing that have happened to me in quite a while Annabeth, I wouldn’t dream about hurting you.” He stopped laughing when he noticed what he said and turned nervously to her. Annabeth seemed to be close to saying something when Percy noticed where they were.

“We arrived.” He said and started to gather some things from the back seat. “I, hm,” He got up and went to open Annabeth’s door. He offered his hand again to Annabeth, but didn’t look at her. After she left the car he walked a little in front of the car and put the things he was carrying on the floor. He came back to the car and turned the headlights slightly on. He looked at her quickly and noticed she was analysing the place where they were. He smiled a little at himself seeing her face. He then turned back to put the things in other.

He took a blanket from his bag and stretched it on the ground. Then he took the slices of pizza Juniper prepared for him, the bottle with iced tea and the brownies he spend the afternoon making. He was so into what he was doing he didn’t notice Annabeth getting closer.

“You planned a picnic?” She asked, voice surprised. “On a cliff?”

”Yes?” Percy asked, still not looking at her and getting a little aware that he may have overdone it.

Annabeth chuckled a little kneeled at his side, making Percy look at her. She took his face on her hands and kissed him gently.

“I love picnics.” Another kiss. “Thank you Mr. Jackson.” The next one took them a little longer.

***

They ended up eating, one or two hours later. Percy showed Annabeth how they could see the harbour from there and told her stories about the many adventures he had had with his father. When she asked why they weren’t so close anymore Percy just shrugged and said they didn’t have time, but she could see it hurt him a lot.

After the picnic and the shameless make out they decided to leave. Before getting back in the car, Percy took Annabeth’s hand and said he wanted to show her something. She smiled and followed him.

After walking for a while they got to an old bridge made only for pedestrians. Percy guided them until the middle and brought Annabeth closer to the edge. He let go of her hand to rest his arms on the fence and stare at the water;

“I used to come here a lot with dad to fish.” Annabeth saw how his eyes got nostalgic and leaned closer, putting her head on his shoulder. He smiled and kissed her head. “Dad loves fishing.”

“Were you good at it?” She asked.

“Not really.” He laughed. "But one day I caught a turtle. Dad made me give it back though. We never kept anything, it was just for fun.” He chuckled a little at the memory.

“Your dad seems to be a great man.”

“He is.” He smiled at her. “Maybe you’ll meet him someday.” Annabeth got caught a little off guard, but it didn’t make her feel as weird as she thought it would.

“Yeah, I’d like that.” She saw herself saying. Percy smile got wilder and he got closer to her, putting a hand on her waist and turning them, so he could lean on the fence while Annabeth leaned on him. She gulped a little in surprise, but laughed anyway. She put her arms on his shoulders and they stared at each other until Percy put her hair behind her ear.

“I didn’t know it was possible, but you get even prettier by the moon light.” Annabeth frowned at the cheese line, but leaned forward and kissed him. It was quick, but then she rested her forehead on his and closed her eyes.

“I don’t know how I manage to like you when you say silly things like this.”

“Oh, so you like me?” Percy chuckled.

“A little bit.” Annabeth answered. “I blame the eyes.”

“My eyes?” Percy faked being offended. “Not my personality or wonderful taste for jokes?” Annabeth’s smiled got wilder and she leaned closer, making their noses touch. They were so close she could feel Percy’s lips slightly touching hers.

“You’re horrible with jokes Perce. But what can I do? They make me laugh.”

***

Percy repeated the same dance he had done the whole night and ran to Annabeth’s side to open the door for her. Once she was out and the door was closed she quickly pulled Percy to her and kissed him deeply. They moved together until Percy had Annabeth pressed on the car and she had her hands all over his back.

“Kids nowadays don’t respect anyone anymore.” An old woman said as she passed by with a friend.

“They behave like savages. You have no idea what that adorable angel from the sixth floor did the other day.” That caught Annabeth’s attention and she started laughing, breaking their kiss.

“Sorry, sorry.” She said, looking at Percy’s face, but she couldn’t stop laughing.

“Did I do something?” He asked, completely at lost. She then forced herself to stop laughing. She kissed him again quickly.

“No. You were perfect today. Those two reminded me of something, sorry. I’ll explain another day.” She smiled and ran her hand through his hair. He still looked confused, staring from between Annabeth and the two old women.

A sudden noise behind Percy called their attention and they saw Piper and Jason exiting the house. Annabeth waved and Piper gave her a huge knowing grin and she could feel her face blushing. The brunette took her boyfriend's hand and walked toward them. Jason could only give Annabeth his best ‘I’m sorry’ look. The girl smiled in response.

“Hey you two. Percy, you remember Jason right?” She pushed Jason forward and Annabeth laughed.

“Sure.” Percy said, offering his hand for a shake. “How do you do Grace?”

  “Very well Jackson. What about you?” Jason said, smiling as he took Percy’s hand. This guy was nice, Jason thought.

“Incredibly.” Percy said, looking at Annabeth. The girl looked back and got closer to Percy, leaned her head a little back, so she could reach his shoulder. Jason ran to hold Piper before the girl started to throw fireworks in the middle of the street.

“So,” Jason broke the silently after a while. “It’s been a pleasure, but I have to go.” Annabeth’s eyes got wilder and she turned to him.

“You’re leaving me alone with her?” She pointed at Piper and the girl showed her the toungue.

“You’ll survive Annie.” Jason said. “I’m going to check on Nico. He’s have this big test coming up and when he gets stressed he doesn’t eat, sleep, well, live. So I’m going to make sure he won’t starve himself to death.” He nodded and kissed Piper’s forehead. “Hope to see you around more often Jackson.” Jason said and wicked at Annabeth, going to kiss her forehead too. “Bye babe, bye guys.” He waved, got to his car and left. Piper stared at Jason’s car until it disappeared on the street.

“You’re sleeping with me tonight.” Piper said, pointing to Annabeth. She turned to enter her house and shouted. “Night Percy.”

“Night Piper”. He replied, before she got inside.

“Well, I think I should go.” Annabeth turned to Percy, playing with the buttons of his blazer. “I had a lot of fun tonight.” She smiled.

“Me too.” Percy said, putting Annabeth’s hair behind her ear again. She was getting a little addicted to it. “I loved your fish.” He said. She smiled and looked at him. ‘I could stare at those eyes forever’, she thought. At that moment she noticed she was doomed. So she did the only thing she could do and kissed him again.

***

Annabeth leaned on the closed door and closed her eyes. One, two...

“Thirty minutes.” Piper came to meet her and Annabeth could only smile. “I’ve been waiting for thirty minutes. Not to mention the amount of time Jason and I waited in here so he could leave without bothering you two.” Annabeth stared at Piper.

“You guys were watching us?” She asked amused.

“What else could we do? You guys were there for hours.” Piper said and Annabeth finally burst into laughter.

“It wasn’t hours. Don’t be so dramatic. And I thought that was what you wanted.” Annabeth teased.

“Haha, very funny. I almost died of curiosity in here. Now, be a good best friend and tell me _everything._

Annabeth sighed, it would be a long night. Still, she followed Piper to the couch.

“So, first he told me I was gorgeous.”

***

“Piper, give me my grandma’s pillow back?”

“No, this is the only thing holding me in this earth.” Annabeth rolled her eyes.

“Give me the pillow Piper.”

“No. You can’t show me that Mr. Perfect Eyes is also Mr. Perfect Everything We’ve Seen So Far and expect for me to act normally.” She said hugging the pillow closer, making some of the seam extend.

“Piper.” She shouted and went for Piper, who started screaming and running through the house. Annabeth ran after her and easily caught her, making the girl gulp and fall. The blond was soon on her, trying to take the pillow from her.

“Mine.” They both said in unison and were soon laughing. Piper let go of the pillow and Annabeth threw it back on the couch. Then she laid by Piper’s side on the floor.

“We should watch our ‘happily in-love’ movie.” Piper said, excitedly.

“You know, normal people don’t have movies for everything they feel like you and Will do.” She saw Piper’s smiled and completed. “And I’m not in love.”

“Of course they do.” Piper said, getting up and heading for the TV. “And Babygirl? I know you better than I know Jason’s abs.” She laughed and picked ‘Clueless’ out of their DVD collection. “And girl do I know those abs.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. So, I'd like to apologize to the solangelo shippers. I know they didn't have much attention on this chapter, but things are going to get better, I promise.  
> Next chapter will have a little of a time jump and, like this tittle says, angst.  
> I hope you liked this one. Any commentaries are welcome.  
> Have a great week you adorable people. 
> 
> Ps. This chapter goes to two of my dearest friends, Jojo and Biel, whose birthdays are today. Love ya.  
> Ps2. I totally recomend Mads Langer. He's incredible and his songs are beautiful. Try 'Fact-fiction', you'll see what I'm talking about.


	8. Babe, don't go breaking my heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey lovely people. I'm really sorry for taking so long to update. I've been having a bad time with some stuff, so I just couldn't write. But from now on things will get better, I think. So I hope you keep following it. xx.

“Dinner’s ready.” Jason shouted from the kitchen.

Nico sighed. “Not hungry.” He answered. The kitchen was right beside his bedroom, there was no need to shout.

“But I made your favourite.” Nico could clearly hear the pout in Jason’s voice. He rolled his eyes and closed his book. He had been staring at the same page for the last half hour, unable to understand any word he read anyway. Will’s face wouldn’t leave his mind. The way it dropped when he saw Nico made the brunette‘s chest hurt a little. He sighed, rubbing his hands over his face and decided to meet Jason.

“Oh. Decided to join the living?” Jason asked.

“If only I could not.” Nico said, blowing his hair out of his face.

“Such a drama queen.” Jason said as he brought the tray toward the table. Nico stared at it for a while and took a sit. “You’re never getting your man back with that attitude.” Nico snorted at that.

“And this advice is coming from a man wearing an apron and cooking gloves. Tell me dear cousin, does Piper dig the housewife kink?” Nico moved just in time to dodge from the knife Jason threw his way. The younger boy burst out laughing and Jason quickly took his apron as manly as he could. After Nico wiped the tears out of the corner of his eyes he stared at Jason for a while. “Thank you. Not only for being here, but you know.” He tried to motion around his house. “For being here.” Jason gave him a weak smile. “You didn’t need to do it. I bet your evening would be much better if you stayed over at Piper’s.”

“Nah. Annabeth had a big date tonight, Piper’s attention belongs only to her tonight. Besides, you’re family, I don’t want you to starve to death.” Jason smiled and started cutting a piece for Nico.

“So that’s why there’s lasagne for a small army here?” Nico joked, looking at the size of the bowl and how much food was in it.

“Well, I invited Leo.” Jason said nonchalantly and Nico tensed. “And since you brought Leo up.” Jason took his phone out of his pocket and searched for something as Nico grew very interested in his hands. “Would you care to explain this message for me?” Jason smiled as he showed Nico his phone. The younger boy blushed a little when he read the words: ‘I don’t want to become one of his skulls.’

“So?” Jason asked and started laughing. Nico sighed relieved at that. “Why’s Leo scared of you?”

“For no reason really.” Nico shrug and paid attention to his plate. “I just politely asked him to apologize to William for a stupid commentary he did.”

“Sure. Politely. I can even see it.” He motioned into the air. Nico threw a ball made of napkins towards him. “And did it work?”

“Yep.”

“Was Will happy?”

“Aham.”

“Did he thank you?”

“He doesn’t know I had anything to do with it.”

“What?” Jason’s eyes got wilder as he stared at his cousin.

“You had to see the look on his face when Leo talked to him. His eyes shined so bright and,” Nico stopped himself when he saw the look on Jason’s face. “I mean. He was really relieved and happy I guess.” He smiled shyly. Jason had the decency to stay quiet at that. They ate in silence for a while until Nico decided to speak again. “Do you think I should talk to him about Octavian?”

“I do.” Jason said as he got up to get their desert. “The thing is, how will you do this?”

Nico had no idea how.

***

The next weeks flew by pretty much the same. Annabeth would wake up the every day with a good morning text from Percy. One Monday, after an amazing weekend full of make outs in the car and double dates with Piper and Jason, the message didn’t come. Annabeth frowned a little at that, but then the realisation hit her. She picked her phone and dialled Percy’s number. After ringing six times, a very sleepy professor answered on the other end.

“You overslept Seaweed brain.” Annabeth had come up with the nickname when they made a trip to the aquarium. Percy had gotten pretty offended at it in the beginning, but as he did with everything involving Annabeth now, it just amused him after a while.

“I, what?” She could hear Percy rubbing his eyes on the other side of the phone. “Shit.” He said, suddenly completely awake. “Thanks Wise Girl.” It was Percy’s response to Annabeth’s nickname. She had to admit she really liked it. “See you in a bit.” He said as he turned the phone off. She smiled to herself as she stared at her phone’s screen.

“Breakfast’s ready.” Jason shouted from the kitchen. Annabeth was about to go when she felt her phone vibrate.

**“Good morning beautiful.”**

There were worst ways to begin a day.

***

“You know what honey? Nico’s right. You do like the whole housewife thing.” Annabeth said as she sat by the kitchen’s counter. Jason stuck his tongue out to her and Piper came to hug him, giving small kisses on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry babe, I dig it.” Piper smiled at him and gave him a quick peck.

“Another thing Nico was right about.” Annabeth laughed and picked one of the grilled cheeses Jason made.

“Since when you and Nico are buddies?” Jason asked.

“Well, I’m not sure we are. It’s just that sometimes we talk about the ‘get-Will-back’ plan.” She said casually, taking a sip of her coffee. The truth was that since their talk, Annabeth had tried to create as many opportunities for the two boys to talk as she could, but Will always managed to run from them.

“Yeah, that’s not working very well.”

“He’s horrible at that. I told once, I’ll tell again. Let’s go with the romcom cliché and lock both of them on a room until they sort it out.” Piper said.

“You don’t want Nico locked on small spaces babe, believe me. They have to talk, but Will never gives him a chance.”

“We could create an opportunity or something like that, what do you think? Annabeth barely finished speaking when Piper shouted.

“A party!” She started bouncing in place. “Let’s have a party.”

Annabeth and Jason exchanged a worried look. Piper’s party mode was off. God helped them all.

***

“How long will you keep doing this?” Annabeth asked as Piper finished fixing her hair at the backseat of Jason’s car. “We’ve been together for over a month now. I think he likes me the way I am.”

“Of course he does. And why wouldn’t he?” Piper said, a small hair clip on her mouth that she used to put the left side of Annabeth’s hair up. “Still, you never let me do this, so I’m enjoying it as long as I can.” She said and leaned back a little so she could see her work. “Perfect.” She smiled and Annabeth rolled her eyes, but hugged her best friend anyway.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Now go make you boyfriend choke on his words with this face and those legs.”

“Don’t worry about it. I don’t even have to try, it’s so easy.” She waved goodbye and left.

“Our little baby is off to destroy hearts. You’re proud?” Piper said, getting out of the car to lean on her boyfriend, who knew better than to stay on his girlfriend way when working on Annabeth.

“I always knew she had that in her.” He chuckled and pulled Piper closer. The girl turned so she could face him. She smiled at Jason and kissed him fondly.

“It really bothers me that you guys haven’t been voted best couple on campus.” Leo said behind them and Piper grunted.

“You keep interrupting us, I’ll vote my hand on your face.”

“Sorry Beauty Queen. I just wanted to check on everybody. See if you guys need something.” He smiled at her.

“So you can disappear at some point for no reason? No thanks, we’re good.” Piper was becoming more irritated with Leo’s small disappearances every time he excused himself on their events. She would never admit it, but the curiosity was eating her alive.

“I’m serious Piper. And don’t worry, if things work out, you guys will know soon enough what’s happening.” That seemed to calm her out a little and Leo turned to Jason who had been just staring at their conversation. “So, how’s, you know, well,” He didn’t have to finish his sentence for Jason to know what he was talking about.

“Don’t worry man, I told you Nico’s not going to kill you. Anytime soon, at least.” Jason smirked at him and Leo sighed.

“Just my luck.”

***

When she arrived in class, Annabeth wasn’t surprised at all to not find her boyfriend’s stuff on his desk. She went to take her seat next to Will, whose eyes got wilder when he took a good look on her.

“Damn girl. Give a man a chance.” Annabeth laughed and slightly pushed Will to his seat.

“It’s funny how you guys assume that I get dressed up every Monday morning to make Percy lose control over his speech.”  She smiled slyly and Will threw his head back to laugh. Annabeth took the cue to turn toward Nico who was discreetly watching their interaction. The boy blushed a little when his eyes met Annabeth’s, but he didn’t look away. She waved at him and he waved back. Annabeth’s smile got wilder when she heard Will’s pencil case fall on the floor.

“Every goddamn time.” He whispered and she glanced between him and Nico. While Will picked his stuff from the ground she looked at the younger boy and winked. Nico smiled shyly and turned, so he could face the board.

“I keep wondering, will you still do all that after you guys get together for good?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“And will you still fall and crash stuff after years of a boring marriage gay life?” Annabeth had her chin resting on her hands as she stared at her friend.

“There won’t be a boring marriage gay life because Nico and I won’t get together.”

“Is that so?”

“Yep. He doesn’t like me that way.”

“I beg to differ my friend.”

“He doesn’t. I’m just the pathetic boy that turns into a clumsy mess whenever he’s around.”

“Oh William, you’re so much more.” Annabeth said, but didn’t have the chance to finish her thought because the other clumsy mess on her life passed through the door.  

 “Sorry I’m late guys. Busy weekend.” He said, deliberately avoiding Annabeth’s gaze. He set his things on his desk and turned to his classroom. “So, what do we know about Gothic Architecture?” He looked through the room, still avoiding his girlfriend. Annabeth snorted.

'Two can play this game.' She said to herself, flipping her hair and raising her hand.

“Miss Chase.” Percy said as casually as he could.

“Well Mr. Jackson, I have some thoughts on the subject.”

Will ran his hand through his hair. God helped them all.

***

In the end of their internal battle, that fortunately only four people in the classroom knew about, Annabeth was the winner. For Percy’s credit, he was doing just fine until she crossed her legs, letting the dark blue skirt she was using show as much thigh as it could. Percy almost resisted to that, but then Annabeth decided to take the jacket she was using and Nico had to come up with a question so his professor wouldn’t swallow his own tongue. Percy had never been happier to talk about a Disney movie in his entire life.

The class was dismissed and Annabeth took the opportunity to bring the party up.

“So, good thing you’re both here. It saves me the trouble.” She said, stepping between Will, Nico and the door. They exchanged a look out of reflex but quickly looked at Annabeth. ‘Men’, she thought. “Anyway, Pipes and I are doing a party this Saturday, and we want both of you there. You,” She pointed at Nico. “Your cousin wants you there. And you,” She pointed at Will. “I won’t even say anything. Now, see you loves, I have better things to do.” She smiled and pushed them slightly so she could pass them and headed toward Percy. She gave him a look and entered his office.

“Well, see you guys next week. Or tomorrow. Well, it’s up to you.” He made a small show of leaving all his stuff on his table and entered his office as well. Will chuckled a little and shook his head.

“They seem happy.” Nico said, trying his best to engage Will into a conversation as he tried to hug the more of himself as he could.

“Yeah, they do." He said simply, avoiding Nico’s gaze.

“So, hm, would you like to go for lunch?” Nico asked, feeling his face burning. Will stared at him and was about to answer when his phone vibrated.

“Just a moment.” He said to Nico as he took it out of his pocket and let it fall on the floor, of course, despite his efforts to pick it up in the air. Nico gave him a small smile and got to his knees to get the phone that had fallen behind some desks. Will lost his breath a little when Nico got up to give the phone back, bringing memories from their night together to Will’s head. He could barely think because of how close Nico was now.

“Will I.” The younger boy started to say but the phone in Will’s hand vibrated again and he saw two messages from Octavian.

“I have to go.” Will said, getting away from Nico. “See you at the party.” He rushed to say as he got out of the classroom, after almost falling on the step in front of the door.

Nico sighed as he stared at the blond running away from him. Will didn’t look back.

***

Percy found Annabeth sat on his chair looking at the photographs on his desk.

“Your mum is a very beautiful woman.” She said and Percy smiled.

“She is indeed. And very nice too. Great to talk. Not to mention a great cook.” Annabeth rolled her eyes and got up. She walked toward Percy and gently pushed him to the closest wall.

“You’re not very subtle, do you know that?” She smiled and kissed him.

“Maybe I’m not trying to be.” Percy said as he hugged her close. “Have you been thinking about my invitation?”

“Yes I have. But I won’t be able to make it. It’s my cousins Magnus birthday, and I haven’t seen him in ages. We’ve been planning to meet this holiday for a while. Maybe it’s better like this. We’ll find another way for me to meet Sally, I promise.” She smiled and kissed him again. Percy had been trying to use the holiday they would have in the next week on Monday and Tuesday to bring his mother home to meet Annabeth. Maybe his girlfriend was right, it was probably better not to rush things.

“So, you’re leaving on Sunday?”

“Yep. Right after the party.”

“Oh yeah, what is this party anyway?” Percy asked and Annabeth blushed.

“Sorry, I forgot to tell you. It’s actually a plan to try and get Nico and Will together. Jason wasn’t into the whole lock his cousin up, so.”

“Well, I’m a fan of locked rooms as much as the next guy, but this party does sound better.” He smiled and put Annabeth’s hair behind her ear.

“Nha. Where’s the fun in that?” She laughed and bit gently on his lower lip. “Will you come?”

“On Saturday? I’m not sure I can. I have to meet a friend who’s back from Europe. But I’ll try to make it.” She frowned a little and he kissed her again. “Don’t make that face. I’ll still take you to the airport on Sunday.”

She sighed but smiled at him. “Lucky for you Mr. Jackson,” She said as she ran her fingers slowly through his shirt. “I can’t resist those eyes.” He laughed a little and hugged her closer.

“Lucky indeed.”

***

 Piper and Annabeth’s house became a sort of lair for evil schemes. Every evening the girls would gather with Jason to plot how their party would go for Nico and Will. Still, Annabeth would always find time for Percy. Even if it was just for some goodnight kisses.

“Well, good luck tomorrow. Tell me how everything goes.” Percy said as he kissed Annabeth’s forehead.

“Will do Seaweed Brain. I hope everything works out with your friend.” She kissed the tip of his nose.

“See you tomorrow Wise Girl.” Percy finally kissed her properly.

“See ya.” She said as he walked toward his car. Annabeth waved goodbye and waited for the car to turn around the corner before she headed back home. Inside, she saw herself in the middle of a small war.

“If he says anything Jason, anything, I’ll ripe his head out of his neck.”

“He won’t say anything Piper. He’s so afraid of you and Nico that I’ll be surprised if he even show up.”

“Well,” Piper said, being taken a little by surprise. “so if he does come, I hope he behaves.” She said in a lower voice, making Jason smile. He closed the distance between them and kissed his girlfriend.

“I freaking love you, you know?” Piper smiled and kissed him back.

“I freaking love you too.”

“The world would be a better place if every couple were you two.” Annabeth laughed and headed for the kitchen.

“As if you and Mr. Perfect eyes were much different. Apart from the subject arguments, I think you two never had a fight.” Piper followed her while Jason set to put the movie they’ve had agreed to watch on.

“But that’s because I think he’s a bit scared of me.” Annabeth handed some glasses to Piper and picked a bottle of soda.

“True. But still, it’s cute. The look on his face whenever he looks at you.” Piper had a teasing tone on her voice, but the words were true.

“He does, doesn’t he?” Annabeth smiled and didn’t even care about the look on Piper’s face. “You were right Pipes, this whole have feelings thing isn’t that bad.”

“Tell me Babygirl, when will you learn that I’m always right?” The girls emerged from the kitchen laughing and sat on the couch. Annabeth had really planned to see this one, but a pair of sea green eyes started to message her within 15 minutes of movie.

She could watch it again another time.  

***

People started to arrive at around 7. The beer was gone by ten.

“So, with Beckendorf and Silena who have just arrived, that will be 40 people. 40! Where did all those people come from? We don’t know so many people. In fact, we don’t like that many people.” Piper said, corralled in a corner of the kitchen with Annabeth.

“I have no idea. But I’ll go out and by some more stuff. Will hasn’t even arrived yet. You’re sure he’s coming?”

“I hope so. Jason had to hold Nico so he wouldn’t run like, three times already.”

Annabeth looked around and found Jason talking to Nico. The boy’s face was a mix of fear and excitement. It was cute, until, of course, the door opened and Will entered, closely followed by Octavian. Nico’s face fell and he held on Jason’s arm. The blond looked at the same direction as his cousin.

“Oh shit.” That called the attention of the new guests and they went there to say hi.

“Okay, you go buy as much alcohol as you can possibly carry, I’ll take care of this.” Piper said, giving Annabeth the keys to Jason car. Before she could say anything Piper interrupted. “He’ll need it. And we’re the only sober people here Annie.” Piper was speaking calmly until she looked at Jason. “Not to mention I’m the only one that can stop my boyfriend if he gets into homicidal mode.” She gave Annabeth a meaningful look and went to the boys. Annabeth stared for a while at the keys on her hand and went for the car.

Before she left she glanced at Nico and saw the painful look on the boys face. They quickly exchanged a look and Annabeth tried her best to give a reassuring smile. It didn’t work very well.

***

It took Annabeth a while to find a place that was opened, but after a while there was a small 24/7 store that had some stuff. She quickly gathered anything she could and got back to the car. As soon as she turned it on the radio was on again and the Wicked soundtrack was back. She tried to sang ‘Dancing through life’ to calm herself, but she was worried about things back home. When she stopped at a red light she quickly checked her mobile to see if there was any news. Nothing. She sighed. At least she thought nobody had been killed. Yet, at least.

At the third red light she had to stop, Annabeth started to get really frustrated. She looked around to distract herself. Her favourite song from the musical started and she followed the rhythm with her hands on the wheel. She was lazily singing along as she noticed small things around her. It wasn’t so late, so there were people walking their dogs, some couples sitting on benches and even a street artist making some paintings with spray.

Annabeth smiled at that, trying to look what he was making. Her eyes suddenly focussed on something behind him. A familiar black hair was sitting in one of the benches talking on the phone. Annabeth squeezed her eyes to be sure it was Percy. He was smiling a lot and Annabeth felt the common warmth on her chest she felt every time she saw that smile.

He suddenly turned and his smile got even bigger. Annabeth followed his gaze saw a beautiful ginger walking towards him. Annabeth was feeling a bit guilty for spying on her boyfriend, but kept paying close attention. The girl was also on her mobile and was smiling fondly at him. She turned the mobile off and put it on her purse. Then, she started running to Percy, her light blue dress flowing around her. Percy just opened his arms to her and she landed on his lap.

Annabeth felt a pain on her chest but tried to ignore it. ‘Just a friend’, she told herself. It all fell flat when the girl cupped Percy’s face with her hands and kissed him. Annabeth was sudden awake by the honk behind and quickly sped up the car. When ‘I’m not that girl’ finished playing, Annabeth wasn’t so fond of the song anymore.

***

“She’s not picking up.” Piper told Jason. They were carefully watching Will and Octavian interact, after the really awkward monosyllabic conversation they’ve had when they've just arrived. Nico had managed to disappear in the middle of that and was nowhere to be seen.

“Let’s hope she’s back soon.” He said and then added when he saw Nico coming near the blond couple. “Like, really soon.” He pointed them to Piper.

“Oh, great. Come, I’m really fond of my decoration.” She said, holding Jason’s hand and coming closely to the boys.

“Hey, can we talk?” Nico said quietly to Will. “Privately.” He added, staring at Octavian. A good observer could even seen the sparks flying around those two. Will was not a good observer.

“Hm, sure. I’ll be right back.” He said to the blond and went to the guest’s room he’d claimed his years ago.

“So, do you need anything?” Piper asked. “Like a drink, a snack or, I don’t know, maybe leave?” Jason snorted but put his hand around Piper’s waist.

“Babe, be nice. It’s not because he wasn’t invited or that we don’t like him that we should treat him badly.”

“Hey, Will invited me so.” Octavian tried to argue but Piper stopped him.

“Look here Mr. Whatever,” She said after a while of thinking something really offensive. “I don’t know you, but I don’t like you. I don’t know what Will saw on you, but I’m not going to let you hurt him. And Nico,” She started to say when she heard a door suddenly opened and a reddish Nico storm out of the room.

“You do whatever you want William, see if I care.” Nico said and rushed to their direction. He picked a half full bottle of something on his way and went to Octavian. “He’s not Reyna.” Nico said, putting a finger on his chest. They stared at each other for a while and then Nico went out of the back door.

“You.” Jason said turning to Will who came out of the room a few seconds later. “What did you do?” He had to be stopped by Piper before his hand found Will’s face.

“Babe, babe, calm down. Let’s talk. Let’s see what’s going on.” She said, both hands on Jason’s chest. “Ok?” He looked at her and she stroke his face. "I think this party is over. Why don’t you go make us a bath while I clean everything huh?” Jason looked between his girlfriend and Will for a while, but decided it wasn’t worthy. He kissed the top of her head and left for the bedroom. Piper waited until he’d closed to door to turn back to all the remaining guests, who were paying close attention to them.

“Okay then. I. Want. Everybody. Out.” She said, as calmly as she could, but within two minutes the only ones there were  Will, Beckendorf and Silena.

“Pipes, do you want me to do anything?” She said, carefully coming closer to the brunette. Piper smiled fondly at her.

“Thanks dear, but I got this. Sorry for, you know, exploding.” Silena gave her a tough hug and then pulled her boyfriend out of the house.“We’ll talk tomorrow.” She turned to Will and to the door. When she opened it she saw Leo going for a knock. “Oh come on.” She turned to her room. “You know what, deal with this. You have a key.” She closed her door as loud as she could.   

  “But what about the party?”  He asked Will.

“I think Nico and I had something to do with the end of it.” Will answered, running a hand through his hair.

“But I think after his talk with me you two would be fine.” Leo frowned.

“What talk?” Will asked surprised.

“Oh fuck, he asked not to tell. Oh well, I was doomed anyway.”

***

Annabeth arrived when everybody was running away from her house. She felt so numb she couldn’t even differ who was there. She waited until people stopped coming out. She didn’t want to face Piper, so she just went right to the backyard. When she arrived there she was very surprised to find Nico sitting on the stairs, strongly holding a bottle of Caribbean rum.

“Hey kiddo.” She said, sitting by his side.

“Hey.” He answered weakly.

For a while they just sat there. Nico quickly glanced at Annabeth and saw her red eye. She didn’t try to hide it, but Nico said nothing. Instead, he offered her his bottle. She gave a short smile and took it.

“So, what happened?” She asked, and got surprised by her own voice. She had always been good in hiding tears, but today it wasn’t working.

“I blew everything.” He said, and gently came closer to her. She gave the bottle back to him.

“I saw Percy with someone else.” She said so quickly, Nico wasn’t sure he heard right. The tears in her eyes were confirmation enough though. He looked away from her and passed the bottle again. When he freed his hand, he held hers. Annabeth was taken a little by surprise, but didn’t let go.

They stayed like that, passing the bottle until it was over, holding hands and with Annabeth crying on Nico’s shoulder from time to time.

There were better ways to end a Saturday night.   

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for that. It was necessary. I hope you've enjoyed it. Things will get better, at some point. Thanks for keeping tuned.   
> p.s. I want to dedicate this one to my best friend. I love you darling, and I'll always follow you to the end of the world with only mild complaining.   
> p.s. Every thought is welcome dears. Have a great week. xx.


	9. A toast to bad decisions and life regrets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, I'm really sorry for taking this long to update again. Life's still a mess. And I'm sorry for this chapter too. I really enjoyed writing it, but I don't think you will feel the same way about reading it. On the other hand, I'm done with the hurt I think. So things will get better from now on. Thanks for sticking around. XXXX.

Jason woke up with a heavy knock on the door. He quickly got up to answer it before it woke Piper too. He picked a pair of pants from the floor and walked out of the room. When he opened the door, he met a very flushed Percy Jackson.

“Hey man.” He said with a smile. “Annabeth’s up? I overslept a bit.” He looked a bit embarrassed and Jason laughed.

“I have no idea man. Yesterday was kind of rough, you know. You just woke me actually. What time’s it?” Jason got away from the door so Percy could come inside.

“Sorry about that. It’s 12.30. Somewhere you need to be?”

“Nah, just a bit worried about Nico, that’s all.” Jason ran his hand through his hair and headed for the kitchen. “Do you want some coffee?” He asked.

“Yeah, that’d be nice. But what happened? Didn’t your plan work out?”

“That depends. Do you call my cousin screaming at Will and leaving to the back door with more than half a bottle of rum working out?”

“That bad huh?” Percy asked, as he sat by the counter. “Sorry to hear it.” He tried to give Jason a supporting smile. “If you need to talk or something, I came a little before the flight to spend some time with Annabeth, so, we can, you know, drink coffee while we wait for her to get ready.” Jason smiled. He had to admit, Annie had taken her time, but she did find a nice guy after all.

“Well, it all started when Will brought that asshole he’s been hanging out with.”

“Octavian.” Percy said. He had spent a lot of time on that house. He knew exactly who Octavian was. Or at least, what the girls thought of him. Jason nodded and continued.

“It was downhill after that.”

***

Piper woke up to not only one male voice in her kitchen, but two. She quickly looked from her door to see Jason vividly talking to Percy. She smiled and went quietly to Annabeth’s room, but when she arrived there she only found a heavily asleep Nico di Angelo on the blond’s bed. She stared at him for a while and then left the room to meet her boyfriend.

“Hmm, Jason. Why’s Nico on Annie’s bed?”

“Nico’s what?” Jason turned suddenly and ran to Annabeth’s room to find his cousin. “Nico?” The boy made no movement and Jason sat by his side on the bed. “Nico?” He gently touched him and the brunette started to wake up.

“Jason?” He asked, rubbing his eyes. “What are you doing here?” He asked.

“Right back at you buddy. You’re in Annie’s room.” Jason said calmly, seeing how hangover Nico seemed to be. From the corner of his eyes he could see Piper and Percy watching them, but they said nothing so he kept going. “How you feeling?”

“Like a trunk ran over my head at least three times.” He said and slowly sat on the bed. “I fell asleep on the couch and when Annabeth was leaving she said I could have her bed.”

“Leaving?” Percy asked, getting Nico by surprise. He stared at him for a while with a look that made Percy lean a little harder on the wall behind him.

“Yeah, she had to leave earlier. She asked to apologize.” His tone showed that he was not happy about that.

“Did she say why?” Percy asked, carefully.

“No.”

“Well, hm, thanks. I’ll go and try to check on her.”

“I wouldn’t do that. Annabeth wanted to dedicate her time to Magnus this holiday. She said she’ll reach you and explain everything as soon as she’s back.”

Percy nodded and got out of the room, with Piper right after him. She had watched their interaction closely.

“Hey, don’t worry about Annie. It’s just excitement to see her cousin. She’ll talk to you soon.” She put a reassuring hand on Percy’s shoulder and led him to the door. “And I’ll talk to her later and tell her to find you ok?”

Percy only nodded again and left. As soon as the door closed behind him he went for his mobile.

“Hey Rach, change of plans. You said you wanted to go where again?”

***

“Alright young man, what happened yesterday?” Piper asked, getting back inside. Nico had a glass of water on his hand and Jason was already making breakfast for him.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Yeah you do. Look, Annie was over the moon because of Percy and now she ran away before talking to him? What happened?”

“Piper, that’s not my place to tell you. Let she enjoy her weekend and when she’s back she’ll tell you. Just, don’t go Piper the saviour ok?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ll see.”

“Who wants some orange juice?” Jason asked entering the room. He glanced at them for a while. Nico gave him a weak smile and Piper left the place by the bed where he was sitting before. “Everything ok guys?”

“Sure, sure. I’ll leave you to talk. I have to take a shower.” Piper quickly kissed Jason’s mouth and stared at Nico for a while, making the boy stare back at her. She sighed and smiled, leaning over him to give him a quick kiss on the forehead. “You stay for lunch.”

To that Nico only frowned and watched her go.

“That’s Piper for you man.”

“I though she didn’t like me.”

“She’s mad at you because of Will, but she does like you. You’re family.” Nico snorted at that. “I’m serious. Now drink this.”

“Jason, it’s green. Like, the bad kind of green.”

“Yes, but soon enough you’ll be as good as new. Promise.” His cousin smiled at him so Nico closed his eyes and drank the whole glass. For his surprise, it tasted even worse than he thought it would.

“Yeah, that’s what you get.” Jason was laughing hard by the time Nico finished it. Nico pushed him hard on the shoulder, only to remember his massive headache. That got Jason laughing harder.

***

It felt longer than Annabeth though it would. The three hours flight just never came to an end. The flight assistant came by after an hour and a half or so to offer some biscuits. Annabeth looked at her and saw she was a ginger woman. After that, she harshly told her to go away and tried to bury herself as deep as she could on her seat. Then, she started flipping through her songs, trying to find something that wouldn’t make her eyes burn.

There was an old lady by her side, but she said nothing, just glanced at Annabeth from time to time. After a while she got up from her seat and left. Annabeth counted two songs before she felt a hand on her shoulder. She glanced to her side and saw the old lady offering her a mini muffin.

“You look like you need this dear.” She had a heavy British accent and Annabeth just kept staring at her. The woman reached for her tray and left it there. “I don’t know what happened, but if you keep trying to drown yourself on that seat you’re going to get some serious back problems.” She smiled gently at her and Annabeth tried to smile.

“Thanks.” She said, reaching for the muffin.

“Heart problems?” The lady asked and Annabeth nodded.

“Broken heart problems actually.” The lady made a knowing sound and kept saying.

“Those are the hardest right?” Annabeth nodded, feeling tears on her eyes. The lady gently put her hand over hers. Somehow that made Annabeth feel a little better.

***

The whole walk to the gates felt like a blur. Annabeth spotted her bag in seconds and then ran to the exit. She looked around for a while and suddenly found the boy with blond hair like hers and big black eyes, the only thing that could parted them from looking like brothers. She smiled when she read the poster he was holding. When he saw her, Annabeth ran towards her cousin and hugged him tight.

“Hello Cheesecake.” Magnus said. When they were little, Annabeth and Magnus couldn’t pronounce their last names correctly, so they came up with the nicknames and stuck with it.

“Hello Cheeseburguer.” Annabeth answered and shoved her face on his shoulder to hide the tears.

“Do you want to talk about it?” He asked and she only shook her head negatively, so her cousin just held her tighter. “Do you want to drink it?” That managed to get a short laugh from Annabeth.

“That I could do.” She said after wiping some tears away. “What do you have in mind?”

“Oh dear cousin, just trust me ok?” He gave her a wicked grin and she stared at him. “When have I ever let you down Cheesecake?” Annabeth truly laughed at that.

“I could think of one time or two.”

“Haha, let’s see if you’ll keep laughing tomorrow.” He said and put one hand around her shoulder and got her bag with the other. “I have some places in town to show you.”

***

 As Nico had imagined, Piper was trying to get anything from him during lunch.

“Give just a hint so I know how to react when she tells me.”

“No. She made me promised not to tell anything. Especially to you.” When he saw the hurt in Piper’s eyes and felt the light kick from Jason under the table he finished. “I mean, she wants to tell you herself, you know. Personally.” Jason, again, was just watching their interaction and nodding from time to time without saying anything.

“Ok, I understand, but I have to have an idea of how to behave. Should I still be nice to Percy, should I run him over with Jason’s car? What should I do?”

“Probably not run him over with Jason’s car. But that’s just a suggestion.” Jason said.

“Babe,” Piper said, putting her hand on Jason’s arm. “let’s hear Annie before picking sides alright?”

“Babe, the only side I’m picking is my car’s.” Jason said and Nico chuckled a little.

“You guys are cute together.” He said without thinking, getting even himself by surprise. The couple looked over to him with wide eyes. “I mean, huh, I, I don’t know what I mean.” Nico said and resumed to his food.

“Wait a minute. You’re being social, you’re saying cute things, we’re bonding. Oh my god, you are in love.” Piper said, poking Nico’s nose. Nico suddenly blushed violently and buried himself further on his chair.

“Pipes.” Jason started to say but Piper stopped him with a hand on his mouth.

“You so are.” She started to jump on her seat. “I thought that you just felt guilty or something like that. But you really care about Will, don’t you?” Nico stared in surprise at her.

“How did you manage to get from Jason’s car to my feelings for Will?”

“Honey.” Piper said like it explained it all and just waited for Nico to talk. Jason kept staring at them, Piper’s hand still on his mouth.

“I don’t know ok?” Nico said after a while, hiding his face on his hands. “The only thing I know is that I’ve never felt like this and it’s freaking scary.” Piper let go of Jason and got up before her boyfriend could make any movement toward the boy. She pushed a chair closer to Nico and gently took his hand from his face, making him look at her.

“I know that carrying about someone may be scary Nico, but it can also be wonderful you know.” She said calmly, putting the hair falling on his face behind his ear. “Don’t stop yourself from that feeling just because you’re afraid. Put yourself out there. Let yourself be hurt and be loved. Live.” She smiled at him and he gave her a shy one back. Jason was about to say something when Nico’s phone rang.

“Hey you.” He said, after freeing himself from Piper’s embrace. “No, I’m free. Yeah. No, I’m with them right now. Yeah, I’ll ask.” Nico took his phone of his ear and turned to the couple in front of him starting to get things clean. “Reyna wants to know if you guys are up for a night out?”

Jason and Piper looked at each other. She was about to say yes, but Jason had a tiring look on his face, so, instead, she just made a face. “Yeah, they’re not going.” Nico said and then burst out laughing. “Yes, they are. Ok, see you later. Call me and I’ll tell you where I am. Bye.” Nico turned the phone off and was still laughing for a while so Piper had to ask.

“What’s so funny?”

“Reyna says you guys are too young to be old.” He smiled at them and got up. “Come on Piper, no need to make that face. And let me clean everything.” She still made a face and kept taking things to the sink.

“Are you sure you’re up for a night out with Reyna?” Jason asked.

“Sure. I mean, my head still feels like it’s going to burst, but I haven’t seen her in ages. And I don’t know how long she’s staying this time, so.” Nico picked the last things at the table and took them to the kitchen. He tried to start washing the dishes, but Piper took it out of his hand. He smiled at her still mad face and left the kitchen to gather his things.

“Call me if you need anything alright?”

“When have I ever done differently Jason?” He was about to leave and shout Piper goodbye, but he turned to the kitchen and hugged her back. Piper tensed for a while but smiled when Nico whispered ‘Thanks’ on her shoulder. She turned a little and pressed a kiss on his head. After that, Nico left the house without looking up. 

Jason also came to thanks Piper and the girl gave him a warm smile.

“He’s a nice kid.” Was the only thing she said before resume to her task, still smiling widely.

***

The first thing Annabeth did when she got to Magnus dorm room was to take a very long shower. When she got out, feeling like someone new, her cousin was on his phone, talking to at least three different people if Annabeth wasn’t wrong.

“Yeah, that one’s nice. And then we could go to that new one, yeah, that one. Oh come on man, it’s my birthday and my cousin’s here, I want to give her a good time. That’s the spirit. Ok, see you guys later.” He turned it off and looked at Annabeth. “Everything’s set Cheesecake. Put on your brightest dress and lowest heels and let’s hit the road of wonderful clubs I set for us.” He gave her a big smile and she laughed a little.

“Ok, ok, but don’t forget you promised to take me out sigh seeing tomorrow.” She winked and started to take her things out of her bag.

“My dear cousin.” Magnus started, a hand over his heart and the other the palm up. “I promise you, if I’m alive tomorrow, I’ll take you to see my wonderful city.” He smiled widely when she threw his pillow on his face. “Sorry, sorry. If I’m in my best conditions, is that better to you?”

“You make too many promises Chesseburguer. What do your girls think of this?”

“Ah, they’re fine with it you know. As long as nobody gets attached we’re alright.”

“Yeah? One of these days you’re finding one that will, be careful not to break her heart.” She said, paying too much attention on the bag in front of her. Magnus slowly came near her and put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m fine. I promise.” She said, putting her hand over his. “Now, you said something about brightest dress. Is this one enough?” She showed him a black long-sleeve short dress. Magnus decided to not push the subject and let Annabeth speak when she was ready.

“That’s perfect. Now, remember, lowest heels.” Annabeth snorted and picked the higher heels she had.

“You really think I’m hitting clubs in low heels? You better take a pair of shoes that mach my dress so I can steal it from you when you’re too drunk to care.” She let go of the clothes and got her makeup. “I’ll take a while with this, you need to use the bathroom?” She asked and Magnus shook his head.

“All yours.” Annabeth smiled and went to the bathroom. Magnus didn’t know what or who had broken his cousin’s heart, but if he ever found out, things would get complicated.  

****

Nico had slept for pretty much all the afternoon and after getting one of the slowest shower of his life, he left home. Reyna would call him when she arrived, so he went on to find a club for them to go to. He hadn’t talked to his best friend in a while, not to mention that Reyna had just broken up with her last girlfriend, so he was eager to meet her.

Parties and clubs weren’t really Nico’s thing, especially alone, but the thought of Reyna eventually meeting him made it better. That’s why he found himself in one of the many gay bars in town, shyly holding a glass of a mixture of about four somethings he was too afraid to ask about, leaning in a pillar next to the dance floor.

The initial plan was to take Will out of his head. “You’re nothing to me Nico. Why would your opinion mean anything to me? Why should I care?” The blond’s words from the night before kept shouting in his head and Nico took a deeper sip from his drink.

After some time waiting, and three or four glasses of whatever he was drinking, Nico threw himself on the dance floor. At the start, he was in complete control of what he was doing, until of course, he saw the last two people he wanted to see.

Will and Octavian were dancing so close they were breathing the same air. Well, that’s what Nico’s intoxicated mind was seeing. In fact, Octavian was trying his best to get into as much Will’s personal space as he could. Nico held his glass tighter as he tried to move his feet.

Suddenly, a tall, dark skinned man got into his view and smiled at him. Nico stared at him for a while and then smiled back. The man slowly held him by his waist and they fell into the music’s rhythm. Nico’s arms went to the man’s shoulders and pulled him closer.

‘You’re nothing to me.’ Nico let the man raise his head with a hand on his chin. ‘Nothing to me.’ He closed his eyes and felt the man’s lips on his. ‘You’re nothing.’ Nico felt another hand on his waist and looked slightly behind him. A redhead with very long hair started to get very close to them, pressing the brunette between them. Nico tilted his head back to capture the second man’s mouth, while the lips of man one found his throat.

The song changed and Nico straightened his head a little, making both men suck on his neck. ‘Nothing’. His eyes wandered and found Will staring at him with wide eyes, Octavian nowhere to be seen. Nico stared back at him for what felt like hours, until the other blond was back with a couple of drinks on each hand. Nico broke their stare-contest by pulling man number one for another hungry kiss. ‘Why should I care?’

Nico didn’t see when Will held tight on Octavian’s hand and dragged him out of the bar.

***

“Will, what are you doing?” Octavian asked as he was being dragged down the street.

“We’re going to your place. You live near here right?” Will said, without really waiting for an answer.

“Yeah, but we just got here.” Octavian tried to argue, completely tired of Will’s movie nights where nothing ever happened. The older blond just gave him a look.

“We’re going back to your place.” He said and kept walking. A wicked grin spread through Octavian’s face when realisation hit him.

“Finally.” He muttered and was very eager to follow Will now.

Their walk was quick and soon enough Will was pushing Octavian on the door and kissing him roughly. In the back of his head a small voice kept shouting for him to not go through with it. The resemblance of it all made his chest hurt a little, but the image of Nico back at the club made him push Octavian’s shirt up. The blond did the same and they parted for a while so they could take their shirts off.

Soon, Octavian started to suck on Will’s neck as he worked on his trousers. Everything was happening so fast that Will barely noticed when Octavian got to his knees and pushed his jeans down. When his hands went to his boxers, Will looked down. Something clicked on his head while staring at the blond in front of him. Before Octavian could put his mouth on Will, the older blond slightly pushed him away. The younger one looked up in surprise and Will tried to find his words. The only thing he managed was ‘’I can’t do this’’. He kept repeating it until he had gathered all his things and left without even saying goodbye, leaving Octavian staring at his closed door.

***

When Nico opened his eyes again, he couldn’t see Will anymore. The two men he was being pressed by started to kiss, so he managed to escape without being noticed. It didn’t make much sense without Will there to be teased.

The song was starting to bother him and he felt dizzy. He managed to drag himself to the bathroom and got into one of the cabins, kneeling in front of the toilet. Before anything happened, a familiar voice shouted from the door.

“If it bothers you so much, leave.” The last word was said slowly and dangerously. Nico heard the bathroom door being locked and his own door being opened. “Goddamnit kid, why haven’t you answered my calls?”

“Reyna?” Nico asked and quickly turned to the toilet, feeling like his guts were trying to leave his body.

“No, your Fairy Godmother, who came here to take you to the ball.” She said, kneeling by his side and holding his hair out of his face. “Of course it’s me silly. And I can’t believe you let him get to you like that.” Reyna didn’t have to say any names for Nico to understand who she was talking about.

“If it serves you as any consolation, it wasn’t him that got to me.” Nico chocked out before turning back to the toilet.

“Oh yeah, the cute curly blond. I saw you two back there. If I were into guys, it would have turned me on right away.” That managed to get a chuckle from him.

“How long have you been there?”

“A while.” Reyna answered and picked up some toilet paper to dry Nico’s forehead.

“You must be really proud.” Nico said sarcastically and sat up, feeling a bit better. Reyna glared at him and sighed. She picked up some more toilet paper so she could clean the corner of his mouth.

“We all need to fuck things up from time to time kid.” She gave him a weak smile and he returned it.

“How the hell did you find me anyway?” He asked, checking the many call he had missed from her.

“Oh, I can sense you.” She deadpanned, wiggling her fingers in front of his face. “Don’t you know we’re connected?” Nico glared at her and she laughed, moving so she could sit by Nico’s side. “You came to a club called ‘Eros’ cave’ kid. It wasn’t so hard.”

“I’m that predictable huh?” Nico chuckled.

“Don’t feel bad.” Reyna bumped his shoulder with her own. “I know you quite well.”

“Yeah, better than anyone. Not willingly though.” Nico laughed and started to get up, offering a hand to her.

“True, but we got something good out of it.” Nico made a face.

“Nah.” Reyna rolled her eyes and started to walk out of the bathroom.

“Haha, very funny. You couldn’t live without me even if you wanted to kid.” She opened the door and met some very mad faces, rushing to get into the bathroom. “By the way,” She turned to get Nico’s hand and take him out of the club. “I already left my things at your place. I’m staying for a week.” Nico just smiled and nodded.

He had missed his best friend.

***

“Jason!” Piper shouted, startling Jason awake.

“What, what, what’s happening?” He asked, getting up quickly and by reflex, putting an arm in front of Piper’s body. The girl let out an ‘Awn’ and pushed Jason to the couch, getting him on his back so she could sit on his lap. Jason grinned at her, but the grin disappeared when she said.

“We’re getting old babe.”

“Don’t let Reyna’s jokes get to your head babe.”

“But it’s a Sunday night, everybody’s out and we’re falling asleep on the couch, while watching game shows. Face it, we are old.” She said the last part very slowly and Jason started to laugh. He hugged her by the waist and gently changed their positions, pinning Piper by the couch. She tried to look mad, but Jason started to give small kisses around her face and soon enough she was laughing.

“We’re not old babe, we’re settled. Those people out there? They’re trying to find what we’re lucky enough to already have.” Jason stared at her and Piper melted a little on his words. She reached for his face and started to caress his cheek.

“So, we’re not old?”

“No, we’re good.” Piper smiled shyly at him. She moved a little so Jason could fit better between her legs. She then started to smoothly run her foot through his thigh.      

 “Will you still love me even when I’m old and wrinkled?” She gave him a shy smile and he chuckled a little.

“I will” Jason started to say as he kissed her forehead. “love you” He kissed her mouth. “Until you get grey” He kissed her neck. “Wrinkled” He kissed her shoulder. “Old” He kissed the dapple she had right above her left breast. “Crabby” He kissed each of her breasts. “And forgetful.” He blew at her belly button, making she burst out laughing.

“Silly.” She whispered, already a little out of breath.

He fished his fingers on her panties and looked up to stared at her. “And even then. I freaking love you Pipes.” Jason didn’t give her time to answer. So, after he gave her one of the best orgasms of her life, Piper pinned Jason on the couch instead, travelling through his body with kisses and promises, just like he did.

Looking up from her spot between Jason’s legs, Piper said. “And then we go out.” Jason only nodded, unable to deny Piper anything right now.

They didn’t go out that night, but by the time they fell asleep in each other arms, Piper wasn’t feeling old anymore.

***

When Annabeth and Magnus hit club number three, she was pretty much having an outside her body experience. Her feet were starting to hurt and she was starting to think she had drank more than she should. Magnus had his arm around her shoulder, more for his own equilibrium than hers and was holding hands with probably the fourth or fifth girl of the night. Annabeth had literally lost count.

“That’s it guys, this is the best one so far. Cheesecake, you’re going to love this one.” He said to Annabeth and started to drag the three of them inside. The club was very dark and soon enough Annabeth lost sight of Magnus' girl and two of his friends.

They sat in a booth and ordered some drinks. Annabeth thought about stopping, but said ‘fuck it’ and ordered one of her favourites. The lights of the club, the music and the many drinks she had have made Annabeth feel out of her.

“You’re looking for someone?” Magnus asked, impressively soberly.

“Today? No. I just want to dance the thoughts away.” She smiled to her cousin and he offered her his hand. She eagerly took it and they were off to the middle of the dance floor. They danced for a long time, Magnus shielding Annabeth from any guy that got too close. They didn’t settle for that one club though. Soon enough they were off to find something else, with three of the remaining Magnus’s friends.

When she woke up on the other day, laying between two girls she had never seen, Annabeth had no idea where she was or how she got there. She tried to get up only to step on her cousin’s stomach, who was laying half naked on the floor next to the bed she was.

“Magnus.” Annabeth shook him slightly and he started to wake up.

“What?”

“Where are we?” Magnus looked around him and frowned.

“I have no idea.” He ran a hand through his hair and started to get up. “Maybe we should go.”

“That seems like a good idea.” They quickly gathered their things and Annabeth cursed when she got her mobile.

“What?” Magnus asked, getting closer to her.

“I just saw a call I made last night, to someone I shouldn’t have and that I don’t remember.” To that Magnus just laughed.

“Come on Cheesecake, let the worry for when you’re back. I remember a promise about sightseeing?” Annabeth made a face.

“But, I’m so hangover.” In fact, she really didn’t remember the conversation, but she remembered the pain in her chest.

“Ah, but promises are important things. Let’s find out how far from the dorms we are and maybe you can get a shower.”

Annabeth grunted and threw her phone deep into his purse. Magnus was right, she would deal with it later.

***

Back at Percy’s house, Rachel was starting to feel a little guilty. Her best friend had spent the whole night worried about why his girlfriend had ran away from him and whether or not he should call her. When finally Annabeth called, Rachel was the only one close to the phone, Percy already passed out in the couch and Grover talking to Juniper in another part of the house.

Annabeth had sound really drunk and really angry when she started to talk, demanding an answer from Percy. At the time, Rachel’s conversation with Grover had came back to her and she had decided to do something to protect Percy from the obvious mess he was getting into.

“Who’s this?” Rachel had said.

“His girlfriend. And who you?” Rachel was still thinking when Annabeth continued. “You’re the girl from Saturday. The one he was kissing.” The redhead suddenly understood why Annabeth was running from Percy. She took a deep breath, apologized mentally to her friend and said.

“I’m his fiancée.” The line had gone silently after that and at the time Rachel felt like she had done the right thing. Now, with Percy walking around the house like a zombie, she wasn’t so sure.

***

On the flight back home, Annabeth felt much better than before. That was until she fell asleep and dreamt about the conversation she had had the day before with said Percy’s fiancée. She did her best to hide the tears she felt on her eyes for as long as she managed.

When she arrived home and saw Piper, she couldn’t take it anymore.

“Hey babygirl, how was,” Piper started to say, but Annabeth threw herself into her arms and started to cry. “Annie, Annie, what happened?”

“I hate this Piper, I hate feeling like this. I hate him. Why I let him get into me like that? Why I let him made me feel like this?” Annabeth kept shaking her head on Piper’s shoulder and the brunette could only hold her. “

Piper didn’t ask anything anymore. She just held Annabeth and let the blond cry herself to sleep. When Jason arrived and saw them curled up together, his face twisted. He looked at Piper and nodded eagerly when the girl said.

“I don’t care if I have to ask my mom for money to get it fixed Jason, I’m running him over with that car.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what did you think people? I hope it wasn't so confusing.  
> Reyna and Nico's relationship will be better explained further on.  
> I want to dedicate this one to Komka, who helped me to get out of my writer's block and also to the person who was my 100th kudo and all the others of course. I don't know who you are, but I love you. ;)  
> I also want to dedicate it to my friend Henrique, who has been reading it. Thanks dear, it means a lot. :*  
> Anyway, I hope it was worth the wait.  
> Have an nice week you all. xx.


	10. You had me at hello

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello people. I'm sorry for taking so long again. But on the bright side, things are getting better. So I hope you enjoy this chapter.

 

The week flew by with pretty much everyone at their homes, ignoring their calls. Annabeth let Piper drag her though a marathon of Disney movies filled with Jason’s pizzas and chocolate cakes. Annabeth would smile at him with every plate, he’d kiss her head and sit on the armchair, leaving the two of them together on the coach. When they were to start Hercules on Sunday, she got closer to the arm and said.

“Jason, it’s your favourite movie, could you please not sit on the uncomfortable chair?”

“But I’m fine here.” Annabeth gave him a look and made a head sigh for him to come to the couch.

“We can fit three here.” She smiled again when he got up but frowned a little when he stopped in front of her. “What?”

“You stay in the middle.” She rolled her eyes and looked at Piper, who was already on the other end of the couch.

“Weirdos.” She murmured, but snuggled next to Jason when he sat down and let Piper lean on her. Annabeth had to admit it felt nice, safe, to be there with her two best friends. Her chest didn’t even hurt so much on Meg’s song.

By the end of the movie, after more slices of pizza than they could all take, Piper got up to take the dishes to the kitchen and Jason started to put another movie on when Annabeth said.

“He cheated on me.” Piper stumbled on the living room table in front of her. “Well, he was actually cheating on someone with me. His fiancée.”

“You, you sure babygirl?”

“Yeah.” Annabeth said, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. “She said so herself.”

***

On that exactly moment, Percy was right outside Annabeth’s apartment, sitting on his car with Rachel by his side.

“If I were you, I would not go inside.” The redhead said. “If she wanted to talk to you, she would have picked one of the gazillion calls you made.”

“But it doesn’t make sense Rach. We were fine. We were, I mean, she seemed happy. What could have possibly happened?”

“Look Percy, she’s in your class tomorrow right?” Percy nodded. “And you said she’s all worried about school and stuff right?” He nodded again. “So, whatever happened won’t stop her from going to class tomorrow. That being said, you’ll be able to talk to her and settle things down.” She smiled and went for the GPS. “Now, I want to go sight-seeing.”

Percy ran a hand through his hair and turned the engine on. If he wasn’t so worried about Annabeth, he would have noticed the relief on Rachel’s face when the car started to move. The woman was full of regret about what she did, but had no idea how to make things right. At least now she knew where Annabeth lived. It could come in hand.

***

On another part of town, another good friend was starting to regret her actions as well.

Reyna was walking up and down the street where, according to Jason, lived Will Solace. She had made her friend tell her where the boy lived with the promise she would solve his problems with Nico. Now, standing there, she had no idea what to do.

Reyna took a deep breath and entered the building. She smiled at the doorman and asked which floor was Will’s. She got her answer and headed for the elevator. Reaching Will’s door she froze for a while but then shook her head and rang the doorbell. After a while, the blond boy from before opened the door. He looked like he had stayed up all night and Reyna pushed away the thought of seeing him leave with Octavian at the club.

“Hmm, hello?” Will said.

“Hi.” Reyna entered the house, leaving an open mouthed Will by the door. “I’m Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano.” She said and offered her hand to Will. “Nico’s friend.” Will stared at her hand for a while and sighed. He closed the door and shook it.

“Will Solace.” He motioned towards the couch. “I thought you didn’t live here.”

“I don’t, I'm here for the week. I arrived on Sunday. I like to check on him from time to time.”

“Sunday? I thought he was busy on Sunday.” Will said bitterly.

“Oh he was. And in much better company than you.” She sat down, hugging her purse close. “Now William, sit down. I have a story to tell.”

“Yeah, Nico told me the whole Octavian only cares about himself thing.” Will sat in front of her.

“Nico told you the short version.” She said and took some files out of her bag. “He was just trying to warn you. I’m here to shut things down.” She pushed the papers towards Will and leaned back on the coach, crossing her legs and arms.

“What’s this?” Will asked.

“Proof. Nico told me you didn’t take what he said to heart, so I’m showing you facts.” Will frowned and picked the first page in front of him.

“Why are you showing me this?”

“Because for some unknown reason, this kid likes you.” She pointed to Nico in one of the pictures in the page. “I mean, I get the blue eyes and blond hair, you should see one of my exes, but Nico is not like that. He had never been. If you were anyone else, he would have let it go by now.” Reyna poked his chest. “Yet, he hasn’t. So I’m here to take care of my best friend.”

“Octavian said that Nico almost got him expelled and –”

“Look at what I brought you and tell me who made who almost get expelled.” Will was silent for long minutes, reading everything carefully. Whenever he frowned or stared too long at some point Reyna would interfere and explain what it meant. After some pages, Will ran his hand through his hair and let his body fall on the couch.

“Piper never told me any of this.”

“She couldn’t. Jason barely knows it. Believe me, Octavian wouldn’t have his face in place if he knew.” Will nodded.

“But this is, I mean, this is hardcore shit. How come nothing of this spilled in him.”

“Well, his father’s a deputy, so it’s easy for him to get out unpunished.” Reyna’s tone changed, because she noticed how that made Will feel unsettled. “So, do you believe him now?” The blond looked at her and nodded. He took a deep breath and asked.

“But how are you?”

“What?” Reyna frowned at him.

“After all this. You lost your job, got sued and all. You must have been through a lot. So, how are you?” Reyna chuckled a little and leaned further on the couch.

“Poor kid, he never stood a chance.”

***

  On Monday morning, Piper knocked slightly at Annabeth’s door to ask if she was going to class. Getting only a head shake in return, she said she had to take care of some things, but would be back soon to stay with her. After that she followed Jason out of the house, got in the car and they drove in silent to the university. Jason left Piper on her building, kissed her goodbye and left. She waited until his car had turned the corner and headed for the Architecture building.

***

Percy’s only reason to go to work on that morning was to see Annabeth. He was feeling like his stomach was eating itself after another late night with Rachel and Grover. So, after he realised she wasn’t coming, he apologised to the students and said he wasn’t feeling well, so he had to cancel that morning class. After some whines, the students started to leave and Percy saw himself alone with Will and Nico.

The professor was staring curiously at the interaction between the two boys. They were staring at their hands, avoiding the start of anything, but when Will took a deep breath and put his hands on the desk in front of him to force his body up, Nico was right in front of him. Will opened and closed his mouth many times before settling with a “Hi.”

“Hey.” Nico gave back and stood there awkwardly holding a piece of paper. “So, I wrote you this.” The brunette offered him the letter on his hand. Will gave a weak nod and reached for it. Their fingers touched slightly and either of them pulled away.

“Nico, I –” Before Will could say anything else, the doors were abruptly opened and Piper got in.

“Boys.” She gave them a dashing smile and kept moving towards Percy. The boys’ weird moment ended when she headed for Percy’s office and the professor followed.

“Why’s Piper with her murdering smile?” Will muttered and Nico started to look for his mobile.

“Percy cheated on Annabeth.” Nico said as he started to throw his things out if his bag. Will stared at him with wild eyes before gripping tightly on his sleeve.

“Nico, call Jason. Call him now.”

“I’m trying, I’m trying.” He finally found his phone and dialled three on his speed dial.

“Jason, where are you?” While they talked, Will looked nervously between the office and class doors. “How fast can you get here? Piper’s here Jason. With Percy.” Nico said it slowly and even Will could hear Jason swearing on the other end. “Ok, we’ll be here. Will and I.” He said and nodded to something Jason said then turned his mobile off. “Should we?” Nico pointed to the office and Will shook his head.

“With the look she had on her face? He’s on his own.” Will said and they heard a loud crack and exchanged looks. “Where you said Jason was again?”

***

“Those two seem to be handling their problems very well.” Percy laughed nervously and closed the door, waiting for Piper to speak.

“Who’s she?” Piper asked, leaning on Percy’s desk and crossing her arms.

“Who’s who?” Percy frowned.

“The girl you’re cheating Annabeth with.” Percy’s eyes got wilder. “Sorry, I mean your fiancée.” Piper was looking him in a way that would have scared him if he wasn’t so surprised by what she said.

“My what? I don’t know what you’re talking about Piper, I’ve never cheated on Annabeth. I would never –”

“Save your speech pretty boy. I just want to know why.”

“I can’t give you a reason to something I haven’t done Piper.”

“Oh haven’t you? So you haven’t been kissing any redhead around?”

“Of course not. I told you I would never –” Percy stopped his line of though. Realisation hit him and he threw his coat over his desk, making a portrait fall. “Goddamn it Rachel.” Percy rubbed his face and grunted. “Why the hell do you think she’s my fiancée? Which she’s not, by the way.”

“So you don’t deny cheating on her?” Piper tried to cross her arms tighter.

“I’m going to explain Piper, but I need you to tell me why you think that. Why Annabeth does too.” Something in Percy’s voice softened Piper a bit and she relaxed a little.

“Annie called you this weekend and some girl picked up, saying she was your fiancée.” Percy took a deep breath and knelled to get the pieces of the broken portrait.

“Yeah, it’s not the first time she does that.” He sighed. “Shit.” He hissed and Piper saw blood on his fingers. She quickly got some paper and knelled by his side.

“So who’s she?” Her tone was friendly now, holding the paper on Percy’s bloody hand. Percy picked up the photograph on the floor and gave it to Piper.

“This is me.” He pointed to the smiley kid with a hat two times his size and big sea green eyes. “This is Grover Underwood.” He pointed to the boy by his side, curly hair falling on his face. “And this is Rachel Elizabeth Dare.” Percy pointed to a redhead sitting on the floor with her legs crossed and smiling wildling to the photo. “My ex fiancée who found out she was a lesbian two weeks before we were to be married." Piper stared at him in surprise and he continued. “Yeah, I get that look a lot. She’s also my best friend, who thinks she has any power over my love life.” Percy sighed as he sat on the floor, carefully avoiding the pieces of broken glass around them.

“But Annie saw you two kissing on the park.” Piper said, looking at the picture. Percy rubbed his eyes and grunted.

“Of course she did. Just my luck.” He laughed without any humour. “Rachel has that bad habit. For the old times I think, I don’t know. The thing is, she just arrived from Europe and I hadn’t been able to talk to her a lot, so I wanted to tell her everything about Annabeth right away. Guess she got a little worried you know.” Percy leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

“Worried because Annie’s your student?” Piper asked and put the photo on the desk. Then she got Percy’s hand to check on his wound.

“That too.” He opened his eyes and saw Piper looking at him, waiting to see if he wanted to talk or not. Eventually Percy gave in. “Annabeth’s the first girl I’ve ever cared about after the disaster that was my almost married.” Percy waited, but Piper said nothing. “I guess she’s worried I’ll get hurt.”

“Well, she’s the one getting hurt because when I see her I’m –” Piper didn’t finish her sentence because Jason busted in with Will and Nico right behind him.

“Piper, babe, is that blood?” Jason asked, avoiding looking at Percy.

“Well, yeah, but totally not my fault.” She  gave an ‘I’m innocent smile’ smile and he relax a bit.

“Yeah, that’s my fault. I was picking this portrait up and I cut myself.” Percy said as he got up and Jason turned to him.

“Ah yes, well, that reminds me.” The punch was so fast Percy didn’t even see it coming. “That’s for hurting Annie.” He said and Piper got between him and Percy, while the boys helped Percy sit.

“So not my day.” Percy muttered. “But I sort of deserved that.” Will looked around the room to gather things to help Percy, while Nico looked at him with angry eyes.

“No, no babe, we like him again. He explained.” Piper said and there was a three voices ‘What’ through the room. “Yeah, it was all a big misunderstanding.”

“But Annie –”

“All explained. Now, Will, how’s Percy? Will he make it?”

“Well, this will be swollen soon. But nothing that some ice won’t solve. And the cut in his finger is not very deep, but it’s bleeding a lot, maybe it caught a vein or something. But if he puts a bandage here it will be fine.”

“Great. So, pick your things dear. We’re taking you home so you can clean your mess. Boys, what about you? What’s that in your hand Will?” Will tried to hide his letter, failing miserably.

“This, well, this is a, well –”

“You know what, I don’t have time. I’ll deal with you after I deal with them. So, do whatever you want, call me later if you need me. Jay love, let’s go.” She started to leave and looked back to find that nobody was following her. “Come on people, we don’t have all day. Move, move, move.” She rushed everybody out.

“You’re sure?” Jason asked and she smiled.

“Trust me babe. My nightfall it will all be in place.”

***

Annabeth never thought she would be one of those people to suffer over boys. Yet, there she was, in her pyjamas, eating chocolate and watching stupid romantic movies. Her past self would slap her in the face if she could.

The doorbell rang and she considered ignore it, but it kept ringing so she gave up and got up. When she opened it, she saw the last person she wished to see.

“Annabeth?” The redhead in front of her said. “I’m Rachel Elizabeth Dare.” The girl offered her hand and Annabeth just stared at it. “We spoke on the phone some days ago?”

“I know who you are.” Annabeth said, feeling unusually bad about herself. The girl in front of her was wearing a beautiful pink dress, her hair was tied in a loose braid and she had a very light and natural make up on that made her face shine. It made Annabeth hate her more.

“Yeah. So, I came here to apologise.” Annabeth stared in surprise at her.

“Apologise? For what, cheat on you?”

“Well, about that, can I come in?” She gave Annabeth a hopeful look and the girl just shrugged, moving so Rachel could enter. “You have a lovely house.” She said nervously.

“Thanks.” Annabeth headed for the couch and offered Rachel a sit.

“Oh, The Notebook. I love this movie.”

“It’s my roomate’s. Piper love to make her boyfriend watch it. So sometimes I save Jason and watch it with her.”

“She’s here?” Rachel asked.

“No. But she’s arriving soon.” Rachel nodded and picked a pillow by instinct and started playing with its ends.

“So, Annabeth. You’re a bit different than what I imagined.”

“I am?” She asked, wishing for everything to not have this conversation.

“Yeah. For starts, you’re older than I thought.” Annabeth snorted at that, but kept paying attention at the stopped movie in front of her. “Well, when Percy told me he was hanging out with a student, I feared you were younger.”

“He told you? And you’re still with him?” Annabeth looked at her, scandalized.

“Well, you see, we’re not really together.” She started and Annabeth frowned. “At least we haven’t been for about five years.”

“What? You said you were his fiancée.”

“Yeah, funny you remember that. I thought you were drunk.”

“It’s not of your concern if I was drunk, high, or whatever. You have nothing to do with me.” Annabeth was trying to keep herself calm, but she had no idea what was going on, and she hated when she was in the dark about anything.

“I know, I know. Let me start again ok. Please.” Rachel had her arms up and Annabeth nodded. “Ok, so, I met Percy at nursery school. I threw paint on him, he threw paint on me and boom, best friends for life.” Annabeth kept paying attention, without interrupting her. “Well, we grew up together you know. The three of us, Grover would be with us all the time too. So, as we grew up, people started saying we were perfect together and all so we started to date when we were about 14.” Annabeth swallowed hard, but she said nothing again.

“We were two friends that thought we were in love, but if you ask me, I think we never were. We went to university together, Grover met Juniper and I saw what love was all about. Percy and I loved each other, but not like that. But we graduated and our families started to talk and we got engaged. I was happy, but I always felt like there was something missing. So when I kissed Zoe, a co-worker of mine, in my bachelor party, I knew what it was. So Percy and I broke up two weeks before our weeding. He was devastated, but he’s the best person I –”

“You’re gay?”

“Yep.”

“So why the hell did you say you and Percy were together?”

“I’m getting there woman, wait.”

“No, I’m not waiting.” Annabeth got up and started to walk around her living room. “I was fine with Percy. And I have never been fine with anyone. And then you arrive out of freaking nowhere to kiss my boyfriend and tell me you’re his fiancée when you’re really just a girl that broke his heart.”

“Hey, stop it.” Rachel said as she also got up. “I’m his best friend. I was just trying to help him. He was all smitten by you and you’re his student and I was looking out for him.”        

“Well, you did a horrible job.”

“I’m sorry I’m not perfect but I did what I thought was right. As I am doing now. I saw how he felt about you. So I came here to set things right.”

“And you didn’t think about telling me you were gay right from the start?” Rachel started to laugh and fell on the couch. Annabeth just stared at her.

“Yeah, that would have worked better I guess.” Annabeth snorted, but sat by her side again.

“You’re crazy, you know that right?” She chuckled a little and Rachel gave her shoulder a little shove.

“I know. And Percy’s crazy for you. So, give him another chance.” She smiled and Annabeth blushed.

“You had me at ‘I kissed my co-worker.”

The two of them burst out laughing.

***

Percy was pacing up and down the stairs in front of him.

“Do you want me to go first and say something?” Piper suggested, getting nervous by how nervous Percy was.

“No, thanks. That’s something I have to do on my own.” He turned to Piper and asked. “Do you think she’s going to throw something at me?” Piper rolled her eyes and headed for her door. She pushed Percy to it and rang the doorbell.

“Good luck dear. If you need us we’ll be here, listening for gunshots.” She gave his shoulder two pats and left. Percy started to jump in place until Annabeth opened the door.

“Hey, hm, hi. So, I know you don’t want to see me, but I can explain.” Percy said and Annabeth stared at him.

“That’s your opening line to apologise for cheating on me?”

“But I haven’t. Let me explain and –” Annabeth interrupted him by pulling Percy’s shirt and bringing his lips to hers. When she let go of him he was speechless.

“Good thing you haven’t, because that wouldn’t take you nowhere.” She smiled and heard Piper shouting from the car.

“Wait, what?”

“I’ve met Rachel.” She pointed inside and Percy looked behind Annabeth to find his best friend shyly holding a pillow to her face.

“Please don’t kill me.” Rachel said and Percy sighed. Before he could say anything Piper jumped behind him.

“You.” She said and was about to ran after Rachel when Jason caught her bu the waist.

“Babe, let’s be nice with visitors.”

“But she hurt Annie.” Piper said.

“I know, but she explained and everything’s fine.”

“Says the guy who punched me.” Percy muttered and Jason blushed a little.

“Yeah, have I apologised for that?” Percy laughed and patted Jason’s shoulder.

“Yeah man, I’m just messing up with you.”

“Wait, you punched him?” Annabeth asked and reached for Percy. “But I like his face.” She said and smiled. “Did you put ice on it?” She asked and pulled Percy to the kitchen.

“Well, Will tried to do something, but I don’t know.” Percy said and let Annabeth take care of him.

“Speaking of Will, where are those two?” Piper asked and headed for the door, only for Jason to hold her again.

“Leave them babe, Reyna asked for Will’s address, so I guess she’s done something for them to work out.” Piper nodded and looked to Rachel.

“So, Rachel right?”

***

“Well, I guess nobody’s bleeding anymore.” Will chuckled and Nico nodded.

“That’s debatable.” Nico chuckled too and they exchanged a look.

“So, I have to go. I have some stuff to study and I also have to read your letter so, yeah.”

“Sure, I’ll go too. That house’s just too crowed.”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah.” Nico started to walk to his direction when Will shouted.

“Nico, wait up.” He walked towards him and said. “Would you like to have lunch? I mean, with everything that just happened, I’m starving. And the company would be nice.”

“Hm, sure. I’d like that.” Nico answered. “Where do you suggest?”

“Well, there’s an Italian place a couple of bock from here, I think you’ll like it.”

“You had me at Italian.” Nico said and smiled. Will turned to show the way and hit his head at a stop sign in front of him.

“Every time.” He muttered and Nico had the sense to pretend he didn’t hear.

“This way?” His asked and pointed to the street in front of them. Will blushed and nodded. Maybe he could live with hitting his head once or twice a day.

***

Piper and Jason reached an agreement in one of their silent conversations.

“Babygirl?” Piper said and Annabeth turned from where she was snuggled with Percy on the couch.

“Yeah?”

“Jason needs some stuff for lunch. Could you two love birds get it?” Annabeth smiled and nodded. She knew that was the way Piper had to give them privacy. She quickly changed and the two of them left to get a very unusual list of things Jason made to them.

“How do you do that?” Rachel asked. She was sitting on the kitchen counter, helping cut some vegetables.

“How do we do what?” Piper asked.

“Talk without talking.” Piper smiled and got back to get the table ready.

“We’re old souls.” She said and smiled when Jason blushed.

“Aw, I hope to find a soul to match mine too.”

“You will, I’m sure.” She said and the door bell rang. Piper frowned and headed for it. She was caught completely by surprise when she opened it.

“Piper, good afternoon. Is my daughter home?”

***

Annabeth and Percy actually behaved on their way to the market. After they got everything they needed though, they couldn’t get their hands off each other. When they stopped at a red light, Percy turned to Annabeth and caressed her cheek.

“I’m really sorry about everything Annabeth.” The girl leaned on his hand and smiled.

“We’re good now. And your big secret’s out. So stop apologising.” She closed the distance between them and kissed Percy until the car behind them started to honk. They laughed and Percy kept on driving, but instead of driving into her street, he took another turn and stopped in front of a park. He turned to her and got her hands.

“Annabeth, I’m really sorry for hurting you, even if I didn’t mean it.” She was about to interrupt so he said. “Let me finish.” She sighed but smiled. “So, I just want to tell you that I will never do that again. I’ll tell you everything about me, all the dark secrets, and the wrong turns, everything. Because you’re really special to me and I have never felt like this about anyone. That being said,” Percy reached for his back seat and got a pink envelope. “Would you like to go to the university masquerade ball with me?” Annabeth burst out laughing and took her seat belt to sit on Percy’s lap and kiss him.

“I’d love to go to the ball with you.” She said between kisses and they stayed there until their stomachs started to ask for food. They quickly got back to Annabeth’s place and kept kissing until they reached the door. Annabeth opened it with Percy kissing her neck and they were welcomed by Piper.

“Annie, sorry. But you didn’t took your mobile and I couldn’t reach you.” Annabeth frowned at her.

“What happened Pipes?” She asked and saw her mother passing through her bedroom.

“Took you long enough to arrive Annabeth. And who’s that?” Athena said, staring at Percy curiously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, we have our first parent this chapter. On the next chapters there will be more.  
> Anyway, let me know what were your thoughts on this one. I really liked writing it, so I hope you enjoy readind it as well.


	11. What do you mean jail?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, I'm so very sorry for taking more than a year to write this, but I don't have any excuse. Just life I guess. I hope those who were reading it decide to read it again. I won't promise to write fast, but I do promise to finish the story, some day.   
> I want to thank you all for still follow the story. Love you all.

Annabeth stared at her mother for what felt like hours. That was the worst possible thing that could happen. She reached for Percy’s hand without noticing and he eagerly took it. Glancing between her mother and her best friend, the blond was looking for the courage to speak, when Athena cut her.

“So? Go on Annabeth, you’re not getting any younger here.” Annabeth took a deep breath and felt Percy’s grip tighten. Smiling softly she answered.

“This is Perceus Jackson mother,” The blond took another deep breath. “he’s my boyfriend.” Athena looked lost and Percy came forward, offering one hand to her, while the other still held Annabeth tight.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Chase. I’ve heard a lot about you.” Athena stared at the hand in front of her and reluctantly held it.

“Can’t say the same Mr. Jackson.” She looked at her daughter with an angry stare. “But I believe I can’t blame you for that right?” She smiled to Percy and let go of his hand. “Now, I think it’s better if you leave, I need to talk to my daughter.”

“He’s not going anywhere.” Annabeth said, getting between her boyfriend and her mother. “You’re the one who arrived unannounced, if anything you’re the one leaving.” Percy tried to tell Annabeth it was okay, but the blond ignored him. Looking at Piper for help, he decided it was better to stay out of it.

“I sent you an email Annabeth. I’m pretty sure I wrote urgent in it.”

“Well, if it was so urgent you could have called.” Annabeth remembered seeing the email and ignoring it. “Now I’m having dinner with my friends and I would like for you to leave to whatever hotel I know you’re in.” She said, her voice shaking a little. “I’ll call you tomorrow.” Athena just stared at her daughter and nodded.

“If that’s what you want.” She said. Annabeth could see the hurt in her eyes, but stood her point. “I’ll be waiting for your call.” She waved a brief goodbye and left without saying anything else.

The door closed and for a while nobody said a thing. Annabeth was too busy controlling her breathing and Percy was watching her close. Piper and Jason were frozen by the kitchen counter, clueless to what to do. It was Rachel who broke the silent in the house.

“So, your mother seemed to have liked Perce.” The brunette stared at her telling her to stop talking, but Annabeth started to laugh. It was more out of relief than anything else.

“Believe me, it could have gone much worse than that.”

***

Things went much better after that. Rachel told them as many crazy stories as she could and Percy kept getting redder and redder, making Annabeth’s heart bounce.

“I cannot believe he did that.” The blond burst out laughing, while the red hair kept on with the story.

“Yes he did. His mother wanted to kill him but she was so relieved he hadn’t crashed her car or got hurt that the only thing she could do was kiss him.” Percy paid attention to Annabeth’s reaction with Rachel’s story, worried that it would make her feel bad because of her complicated relationship with Athena. Instead, his girlfriend smiled fondly at him and held his hand.

“I’m looking forward to meeting Sally, she seems wonderful.” Percy smiled, indeed she was.

“Well, she’ll come as soon as possible, since she couldn’t come this holiday duo to that one,” he pointed to Rachel. “and she’s crazy to meet you.” He smiled and cupped Annabeth’s face with his hand.

“Well, I think I’ll go.” Rachel said and Percy stared at her. “There’s just so much a girl can take and between you two love birds and the perfect couple over here, I’m the third, well, fifth wheel.” She laughed.

“We can drive you.” Jason suddenly spoke, getting Piper by surprise.

“We can?” She said and Jason raised one eyebrow to her. “We can!” She said, getting his point.

“How could you not have inherited your parents’ talent for acting. Like, at all?” Annabeth asked, laughing and leaning on Percy.

 “What can I say?” Piper said while they got up. “I think I only took the dramatic taste.” She laughed, got her coat and kissed Annabeth’s head. “Behave you too.” She winked at Percy and left, followed closely by her boyfriend, who just waved them goodbye.

“I wanted to apologise one last time before I left.” Rachel said, looking at Annabeth. “I know now that what I did was wrong, but I want you to know that everything I’ve done was trying to take care of my best friend. I hope we can start again from now, if it’s okay with you.” She said, offering her hand for a shake and looking a bit nervous. Annabeth raised an eyebrow at her but got up, pushing her hand away and going for a hug.

“I get you. I would do anything to protect my friends too.” She felt Rachel responding to her hug and relaxing in her arms. “We’re good.” She let go of the red hair and smiled. “Now leave before those two start making out in that car or you’re never going home.” Rachel laughed and nodded.

“I can imagine it.” She looked at Percy and kicked his leg. “And you,” she said. “take care of this girl, she’s nice. You don't meet a girl like that in any dinasty.” Percy laughed and nodded.

“Just leave.” Rachel finally left, feeling happier than she had in a while and leaving Percy alone with Annabeth at last.

“Thought they would never leave.” Percy burst out laughing and started kissing Annabeth.

***

The ride to Percy’s flat took a little while because Rachel kept saying the wrong way, since she didn’t know the city so well. The couple in the front seat really didn’t mind because they had a lot of time to kill before they felt it was safe to go back home.

“Turn the next left.” She said and when Jason did that she cursed. “Sorry, it was the left before that one.” She sighed and leaned her forehead on the seat in front of her.

“Maybe we should turn the GPS on.” Piper suggested between laughs.

While she turned it on and typed down the address Rachel gave her in a piece of paper, Jason’s phones began to ring. She connected it to the car and Jason answered it.

“Jason?” He heard the familiar voice of Reyna.

“Hey you. I thought you had forgotten about me.” He said, laughing.

“I’m sorry, I know I own you a visit, but right now I’m looking for Nico. Have you seen him?” She asked, her tone a bit worried.

“I wouldn’t look for him so much Reyna. Last time I saw him he was making plans with Will.”

“Oh, now things make much more sense. Well, I’ll wait then.” She said, clearly calmer now. “So we have to arrange for you to ditch that snobbish girlfriend of yours and meet me.” She said and Rachel gulped.

“As if.” Piper said and laughed, making Rachel much more confused than she was before. “I haven’t seen you since you’ve cut your hair short, I’m not missing that opportunity.” Reyna started to laugh on the other end of the line and Rachel said a quietly ‘What?’ in the back seat.

“To the lost person I don’t know, that girl thought I was off to steal her man the first time we met.” Reyna started to explain. “You can imagine her surprise when my girlfriend, well, ex-girlfriend, arrived as well.”

“You and Paige broke up?” Piper asked and Reyna just hummed. “Good. Never liked that girl.” She said and Jason snorted.

“That’s an understatement.” The blond said.

“She tried to prove she was better than anyone. Those are never nice people.”

“True. Good thing I saw that before it was too late.” Reyna laughed, but it wasn’t such a happy laughter. “Anyway, nice talking to you guys, let’s do it in person next time. Oh, and bring the new girl.” She said and hung up before Rachel could finish introducing herself.

“She seems,” she thought of a better word. “nice.”

“You’ve seen nothing yet.” Jason said as he stopped in front of what seemed to be Percy’s flat.

“Maybe I’ll get to know her better if you guys arrange something.” Rachel said, leaving the car and going to Piper’s window. “Again, I’m sorry for everything.” She said, leaning closer to the couple. “It wasn’t right and I should have,”

“Don’t worry.” Piper interrupted her and looked at Jason, grabbing his hand. “We do anything for family too.”

***

“So, where to now Milady?” Jason asked as he pulled from Percy’s entrance.

“Surprise me my wonderboy.” Piper said, smiling fondly to Jason, who knew exactly where to take her.

They drove in a comfortable silence for a while. Piper kept looking at the city lights around them and leaned her head on the door, listening to the soft song playing on the radio. From time to time she felt Jason’s gaze on her and smiled.

“A penny for your thoughts.” He said.

“Not much really.” She confessed. “I just feel like things are finally getting in place.” Jason hummed in agreement. “Our babies are growing up and will soon leave the nest.” They both laughed at that. “I’ll miss them.” She said and Jason saw what was going on.

“It doesn’t matter where they are or who they are with babe, they’ll always need you.” Jason said softly and patted Piper’s thigh. “And you have me.” He smiled at her and she rolled her eyes playfully.  

“But that’s not fair. You’re already stuck with me for life mister.”

“Best decision I ever made.” He pulled her hand to his mouth and kissed it. “Now let’s undo that frown because we arrived.” Piper showed her tongue to him.

“I don’t frown.” She said as she left the car and lost her breath a bit, looking around them. “You brought me to the fair?” Piper asked, voice full of excitement.

“I was planning on bringing you here later this week, but I thought today was a good day too.” Jason barely held his pouncing girlfriend when she jumped on him, kissing him deeply.

“I freaking love you.” She whispered, lips close to his.

“I freaking love you too.” He answered, kissing her back and putting her on the floor. “Now, let’s go take a look.” He laughed at Piper’s face while pulling him fast towards the fair.

Time flew by as they passed through the tents and Jason tried to win as many stuffed animals as he could carry to Piper. When they arrived to the shooting tent thought, it was Piper’s time to win a big stuffed Superman to her boyfriend. Satisfied with their presents and agreeing to come back at the end of the week, the couple went back to their car.

Sitting inside, Jason had just enough time to close his door before Piper was on his lap, kissing him hungrily.

“Whoa,” Jason said. “We haven’t done this in a while.” He laughed but kept her close to him.

“There’s no point in doing it in a car after living together.” She said, pushing him further into his seat. “Still hot thought.” She smiled wickedly and Jason decided to let she do whatever she wanted to do with him, but by the time she started opening his shirt, his phone started to ring. “Let it go.” Piper said, kissing his neck.

“But it could be important.” Jason couldn’t believe his own words at that moment, so he let it ring. But every time it stopped, it would start back again. By the fourth time Piper couldn’t take it anymore and answered it in an angry tone.

“What?” Her face soon twisted and she gave the phone to Jason. Reyna started talking before Jason could say hello and Piper had already left his lap.

“How fast can you get in the police station?” She asked, her tone rushed.

“Twenty minutes. Why?”

“Make it fifteen. Nico’s been arrested.”

***

Nico and Will walked in an awkard silent until they reached the place Will had talked about. They chose a table in the corner, that seemed to be a more reserved place to talk. The small talk started and Will was almost exploding when they started the whole ‘it’s really hot today’ thing.

“I know you talked to Leo.” Will started and Nico’s eyes got wilder. “Please don’t kill him, he thought I knew.”

“You weren’t supposed to know that.” Nico seemed a bit ashamed and Will hurried to say.

“But if I didn’t know how could I thank my hero?” He said shyly and Nico smiled at him. That smiled made Will’s butterflies dance in his stomach and he reached for his hair, but while doing that he hit the waiter who was arriving with their menus. The man fell over the big plant behind him and it almost hit the table next to it. “I’m so sorry.” Will said, looking terrified and the waiter just smiled, seeing how nervous he was.

“I’ll leave those here. Call me when you’re ready to order.” He said and left.

“Sorry for that.” Will tried to hide his blush. “It just keeps happening and,”

“I think it’s cute.” Nico said, quietly and got Will by surprise. The blond reached for Nico’s hand but decided against it.

“Nico, about what I said in the party, I didn’t mean that. I was hurt, I guess I, I don’t know, I guess I wanted to hurt you too.” He lowered his head, avoiding Nico’s gaze but looked back up when the younger boy caught his hand. 

“I deserved that.” He blushed when Will’s eyes found his. “I think we’ve been doing this all wrong.”

“You think?” Will snorted.

“Yes. How about a fresh start?” Nico proposed. “We take this as our first date e go from here.” He looked hopefully to Will, waiting for his reaction. The blond just stared at him, mouth opened.

“I would like that.” They just smiled to each other for a while before Will remembered. “But if we’re doing this I have to tell you. I met your friend, Reyna. She talked to me about your history with Octavian.” Will noticed how Nico’s eyes got sadder with that.

“So you’re having second thoughts or something?” Nico asked, worried. Will laughed, amused.

“I have been falling, stepping, kicking and hitting invisible things, not to mention the lost of balance, ever since I met you and you think a stupid British is going to make me run?” Will smiled and Nico got up to pull him from his seat, so he could kiss him. When they sat back to their places, both feeling a bit breathless, Nico said:

“As I told you, I think it’s cute.” Will could only laugh, hoping it would silent the hard beats of his heart.

***

The rest of the evening were going great, until of course, they reached Will’s flat. They had been laughing and joking, while kissing and holding hands. Nico noticed his phone had died but didn’t care. The weather was great and the street was almost empty. Some blocks before they arrive, Will pushed Nico to the wall of an ally and started kissing him, because he felt like it was something he could do now. Nico got soon involved in it and kissed Will back, hungrily. When the blond started kissing his neck he said, closely to his ear.

“So maybe you could give me those pancakes you talked about.” Will stared at him and Nico got a bit worried that he had crossed a line. That was of course until Will opened a big smile, gave a peck to his lips and started dragging him towards his flat. Nico could only laugh at that and his laugh only died when they reached the door and saw the last person they wanted to see that night.

“Oh, I see you manage to crawl your way back to that one.” Octavian said, staring down at Nico.

“Don’t drag him into this Octavian, he has nothing to do with it.” Nico tensed and felt Will’s grip tighten. “Now leave. Please.” He was trying to be as polite as he could.

“Or what?” Octavian retorted. “You’ll call dear old dad or one of his minions to save you?” He looked at Will. “I feel sorry for you, so much potential, and you waste it with this excuse of human being.” The punch came so fast that not even Nico saw it. Soon Octavian was laying on the floor, crying with his hand over his mouth.

“Will, what…?”

“I’m sorry. He was offending you and I,” Will didn’t finish his sentence because a police car stopped close to them and asked what was going on.

“Those two assaulted me officers.” Octavian said, making a scene to get up. “I was doing nothing and they attacked me.”

“Wait just a minute.”

“No officers. My name is Octavian Augur.” When they heard his name the officers stopped the car and left it. Nico sighed and Octavian looked at him with a knowing grin. He knew how that last name opened doors.

“Don’t worry Mr. Augur, we’ll take care of everything.” One of the men said and started to conduct the boys toward the car. Will tried to protest but Nico motioned to him to stop. He knew it was helplessly. “I’ll stay here with you waiting for another car to take you to the station.” He said and his partner asked for the car from the radio.

“My heroes.” Octavian said as he observed the car leaving, with Will and Nico in the back seat.

“I’m so sorry you got involved in this whole mess William.” Nico said quietly, so the driver wouldn’t listen to them.

“It’s not your fault Nico.” He held the younger boy’s hand to his. “He’s just a spoiled brat who think he owns the world. And I didn’t help it when I punched his face.” Nico laughed.

“No you didn’t. But it was hot.” Nico turned his face and kissed Will.

“Hey, no kissing in the car.” The police officer said. “You guys are in enough trouble already.” Nico stared at the man through the review mirror and remembered something he had said to Octavian in the party some days before. ‘He’s not Reyna.’ He had done the mistake to let that stupid blond control his actions once. He wouldn’t do that again. Holding Will’s hand he turned to the officer in front of him.

“You think you’re doing the right thing staying by his side because of whom he’s father is. But that’s just because you haven’t seen mine yet.”

“You have no idea who you’re playing with kid.” The officer said.

“We’ll see.” Nico leaned back and left an open mouthed Will staring at him.

They soon reached the police station and Nico asked for the phone. Will noticed how Nico seemed to be much more in control of the situation than he was before. When he got to the phone he quickly dialled a number and was soon talking.

“Reyna?” Will didn’t understand why he was calling her and not his father, but waited. “I’m at the police station. Don’t worry, Will punched Octavian and he made a scene.” The boy listened to his friend on the other side. “Of course. I need you to call my dad. But I need you to tell him everything.” He waited. “I’m sure. I need to end this.” He nodded to something she said. “I think you’ll need to tell Jason too, but get my dad first. This finishes today. Bye.” He turned it off and looked and Will. He went to hold his hand and they saw Octavian arriving with a winning grin, walking straight to the detective room.

“We’re screwed.” Will said and Nico snorted.

“We haven’t played all our cards yet William. Have faith.” Nico winked and went to sit. The only thing Will could do was follow him.

***

Annabeth was, as always, lost into Percy’s kisses, but pushed herself out of it so they could at least leave the dinner table. Percy whined a little at that but she quickly held his hand to drag him to the sofa. He smiled when she laid and pulled him to her and they soon resumed to the kissing. Hands started to travel through their bodies and Annabeth hugged Percy’s waist with her legs.

“I know it wasn’t so long, but I’ve missed this.” Percy whispered to her while kissing her neck. Annabeth had giggle.

“I’ve missed you too.” They looked at each other for a while. “When I thought I had lost this, you, Percy I’ve never felt anything like that.” She said and Percy turned them so they could both lay in the sofa, staring at each other. “But this, this amazing feeling, I’ve never had that either. And I love feeling like this.” She smiled and he pulled her closer, kissing her deeply.

“I’ve never felt like this either. What I had felt, none of that compares to the way I feel when you’re near me. This careless liking. I just feel when I’m with you Annabeth, I don’t ever have to think about what I’m doing, what you’re thinking about me, it’s the most wonderful thing I have ever felt.” He pressed his forehead to hers, hands just lazily touching the other. “I realized something during this whole mess I put you through.” Annabeth snorted.

“And what is it?” She asked.

“I never asked you to be my girlfriend.” The blond laughed.

“I think it’s a bit late for that.”

“But still, I'm a romantic guy, I like things done traditionally.”

“Are you sure about that Mr. Jackson?” Annabeth sat on the sofa so she could stare better at Percy.

“I am.” He said, getting up and going through his stuff. “I’ve been walking with this inside my bag for a while now,” He said. “I was waiting for the right time.” He gave Annabeth a small purple box and she looked at it curiously.

“What’s this?” She asked, taking the box from Percy.

“My way to ask you to be my girlfriend.” He said and waited for her to open the box. When she did she found a small silver necklace with a blue owl with grey stone for eyes. “She’s blue so you can always think of me, even if I’m not around you.” He said, holding her hands and looking her in the eye. “And she has your eyes so you know I’m always thinking about you.” It took Annabeth a while to absorb all that, but when she did, she jumped on Percy and pinned him to the sofa, while holding her necklace tightly on her hand.

“I’m in love with you.” She said, rushing the words out of her as if they were threatening to explode inside her. She had never said those words in all of her life, she had always been afraid of them. But now, saying it to Percy and seeing the way he smiled at her, she felt a relief she never thought she would feel. She felt free even if she was bounding her heart to someone else.

“I’m in love with you too.” He said and kissed her. The kiss started slowly but the heat built up. Annabeth’s hand were under Percy’s shirt  as she whispered:

“Sleep with me today.” He was about to answer when the door burst opened.

“I’m so sorry guys, but we have an emergency.” Piper said, as she ran through the house gathering things. “Nico and Will are at the police station. I don’t know exactly what happened, but Jason dropped me by to get some stuff and went there. Can you drive us Percy?” Piper was really embarrassed to interrupt them, but it was the only way. Annabeth was already getting up and putting her shoes on.

“Of course. Is there anything else I can do?” He asked, eagerly to help.

“I have no idea.” Piper answered.

***

When the girls and Percy arrived at the station, Jason was listening very carefully to whatever Reyna was telling him. Piper ran to him, holding him from the behind. Jason held her close and turned so she could kiss him. Then she offered her hand to Reyna and squeezed it. The older girl smiled to that.

“So, what do we know so far?” She asked, Annabeth and Percy reaching them.

“Nico’s been there for half an hour now.” Will suddenly arrived from the bathroom, surprising the ones who had just arrived.

“And you’re here? How are you?” Annabeth asked.

“Octavian seems to be so worried about him that he forgot about me.” Will said, tiredly. “And it’s my fault.” The blond sat down and put his hands over his face.

“We’ve already told you it’s not your fault, you were just protecting him.” Reyna sat by Will’s side and took his hand to hers. The boy smiled a little at that.

“We’re waiting for my uncle.” Jason said, filling them in.

“Ow.” Piper and Annabeth said in unison.

“What?” Percy asked quietly to Annabeth.

“Hades’ a bit, well, intense.” She explained.

“That’s one way to put it.” Reyna said. “But Nico decided to let him know about everything and that’s why he’s got that face on.” She pointed to the end of the hall, where they could see Nico sitting lazily in a chair, listening to a man shouting to his face, which had a fixed wicked grin on.

“That’s, hm, scary.” Piper said and Jason nodded.

“Reyna’s the only one who, well, now Will too, knows what happened between Nico and Octavian.” Jason’s voice a bit hurt.

“He was worried that this,” Reyna motioned to their surroundings. “would happen to you. You’re not the only protective person in your family Jayson.” She gave him a shy smile.

“But he had to go through things alone.”

“And he’s survived, as he’s done things his entire life.” Jason stared at her. “He’ll be fine.” Jason nodded and pulled Piper closer.

Time took a while to pass and the silence between the six people was driving them mad until the police station doors burst open and a strong black man, with his long hair tight in a ponytail, walked in. They noticed how Nico’s grin got even wilder.

“I’m here for my client, Nico di Angelo.” The man said to the information desk and one of the men there, trying to please Octavian’s dad, decided to make him wait.

“We’ll see if it’s possible for you to go there now.” He said and the man smiled.

“Don’t even try.” He started. “I’m not here for you, but if I need to, you’ll lose this lousy job you think gives you so much power. It doesn’t. Now please, take me to my client instead of wasting both our time.” The man started to walk and saw Jason. “Mr. Grace.” He nodded and Jason nodded back.

“Thanatos.”

“Hades’ arriving. I’m here just to calm things down.” He said and Jason laughed because the officer who had talked to Thanatos and nervously waiting for him to follow him.

“I can see that. But Nico seems fine.” He pointed to the room where Nico was and Thanatos turned, eyes meeting the young boy’s.

“Well, after what your friend there told us,” He pointed to Reyna. “That face doesn’t surprise me.” He smiled. “We know you’re not the only protective person in this family.” He nodded again to all of them and went to the room.

“What he meant?” Will asked, completely clueless to everything.

“That my uncle would do anything to protect his children.” Jason answered. “But this time he couldn’t, so he’s doing something.” The blond exchanged looks with Reyna.

“He’s doing something alright.” She laughed. "And I'm sure Nico's telling you everything once this whole things cools." Jason rolled his eyes. 

Their attention was fixed on the room for about twenty minutes, with Thanatos arguing with the man in front of him. Suddenly a tall blond with a snobbish attitude walked in and the men in the station started to behave like teenagers around him.

“So, that’s Octavian dad I suppose?” Piper asked and Reyna confirmed. “Seems like the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree right?” They kept following the situation. The man was conducted toward the room where Nico was and started to make a scene. Jason was a bit worried, until of course his uncle arrived. Jason saw Hades calmly enter the station and avoided the information desk, walking straight toward Jason. He was a very elegant man, tall, well-built, with a short black hair to match his eyes, perfect shaved beard and a suit that made you see he was an important man.

“Nephew.” He said to Jason.

“Uncle.” Jason got up to shake his hand.

“How’s he?” He asked.

“He’s, well, positive about it all.” Hades seemed to think that over. He smiled.

“I’m glad my son trusts me.” He nodded to the others and kissed Piper’s hand. “I shall go rescue my stubborn son.” He turned to Reyna and said. “Thank you very much Miss Arellano.” She smiled at that and he left.

“Damn.” Will said after Hades had left. “I see where Nico gets it from.” They laughed at that. “He’s like a super lawyer or something?” He asked Jason.

“Something like that.” He answered and laughed. The eyes turned to the room to watch the interactions. Hades came close to Nico and put a hand over his shoulder. He asked something to Thanatos. He nodded and turned to Octavian’s dad. He unconsciously got between the man and his son and said something. The man started to scream while pointing to Nico. They could all hear some of the things that were being said, but when the words ‘Inconsequential fag’ were said, Hades posture changed. He looked at his son and Nico smiled. After that his father went for the kill.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So guys, what did you think about this one? I loved writing it and specially I loved writing Hades.   
> Next chapter everything about Nico and Octavian will be explained. I hope you guys liked it. Have a great week and a happy New Year to all of you.   
> xoxo.

**Author's Note:**

> Any comments, suggentions or critics are always welcome. Thanks for reading it, you adorable people. Have a nice day. xx.


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